Happy Tragedy
by OptionA
Summary: Three years ago UAs 1-A class lead an attack on UA before disappearing with a third of its students and staff. In the wake of this tragedy, UA is closed down and its students are scattered, laden with stigma and trauma. Katsuki Bakugo has become notorious as the only surviving 1-A student, and his former classmates are making things difficult. (Villain Deku, Villain 1-A, Hive Mind)
1. Chapter 1

A little boy with blonde hair sat alone in a rickety little wooden boat. He was drifting along in an ocean of stars. This place was so ethereal and calm, he loved it here, nothing could hurt him in this space; but it wasn't long before a current dragged his boat along a new course. The boy in the boat looked about in panic. There was nothing in the boat to row with and therefore no way to slow himself down. He was alone and didn't know where he was being taken to. He stuck his hands in the water in a desperate attempt to row his boat outside of the current's grasp. He gasped in surprise and jerked his hands away. Where the water had touched his skin, he felt little shocks travel across his skin, as if he'd touched a live wire. It wasn't entirely unpleasant, but it was strangely alarming and the sensation flicked some switch in his mind. This feeling was all too familiar, it was at once alluring and terrifying. He hated it with every cell of his being. Why though? It didn't seem objectively bad, what had he encountered to make this pleasant feeling so loathsome.

Before he could place exactly where he'd felt this before, the water around him stirred violently. Waves began to crash against the walls of his boat, threatening to crush his little craft. This water seemed to be almost alive. No he was certain now, this water had a will of its own and it was trying to swallow him. Suddenly he heard the sound of crashing water behind him.

He twisted in his little boat to see a tidal wave rearing up behind him. It threatened to forcefully sink his pitiful craft. As it began to crash down on him, he swore that he could hear a voice in its roar.

"You can't escape Kachaan!" It said. There was a grin in the darkness, and a pair of bright green eyes drilling into his soul. "We made you a promise after all."

As the wave collapsed over him, the boy in the boat was engulfed in the boundless echoes of thousands of laughs.

Bakugo Katsuki's eyes flew open.

Light streamed in through the bottom part of a window just above him, with curtains that were too short to block the morning glare, and illuminating a room with browning walls. He was in his bed, the sheets were tangled around his ankles and he lay splayed out over his mattress. He slowly untangled himself and tried to steady his pounding heart.

He covered his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.

The air that filled his lungs was ever poignant, filled with the rancid smell of cat pee and the slightly sweet smell of nitroglycerin soaked sheets.

He was in his room. He was safe.

"I'm glad to see that your awake." A voice said huskily from somewhere close by.

Katsuki slowly uncovered his eyes and slid his gaze over to the doorway, now noticing a shaggy looking Mr. Aizawa, clad in rumpled gray pajamas, leaning against the doorframe. He held up a bright red fire extinguisher, "I guess that I won't be needing this anymore." He said as he set it on the floor. "Glad to see that you didn't blow anything up or set any fires this time." He gave a big yawn. "It's way too early for something like that."

Katsuki sighed, covering his eyes again. He was still so tired.

"So… What was it this time?" His old teacher asked, crossing his now empty arms.

"The emotions." He grumbled, his voice feeling raw and strained. "They were trying to drown me."

"Ah…" The hero said, frowning thoughtfully. "You know, Angela said that she's available this afternoon, if you want to talk to her after work." He suggested evenly.

Katsuki groaned. "I know." He said. "She emailed me her schedule in case I had an emergency..."

"Huh….Well whatever you decide to do, you should get up soon." Aizawa said, pushing off from the doorpost and turning away. "If you continue to laze around like this, you'll make us both late."

Panic struck Katsuki and he tore his arm away from his face, sitting up straight. "Wait what time is it?"

"6:30." He heard his teacher say flippantly, just before he disappeared from the doorway.

"Shit!" He cursed, tearing his shirt off over his head. "I still need to take a shower!"

"Remember what Angela said about language, Bakugo!" His teacher said through the wall. "Plus you're scaring the cats."

"Sorry!" He shot back dutifully before rolling his eyes. "That fucking speech thing is such fucking bullshit." He grumbled as he grabbed his towel from its place on the floor and scurried into the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, he was pulling on his socks and shoving his feet into his nice work shoes.

He walked into the living room, stifling a yawn.

Aizawa was sitting at the dining table, leaning over a bowl of cereal with his phone held out in front of him, and his hand mindlessly shoved spoonfuls of soggy froot loops into his mouth. His fat orange tabby cat, Carlos, was curled up on his lap. While his owner didn't so much as blink as Katsuki shuffled by on his way over to the kitchen area, the cat gave a little mewl in greeting. Katsuki smiled fondly down at the furball. Out of both of Aizawa's cats, Carlos was by far his favorite. He took a glance around the living room, Honest didn't seem to be around this morning. He was probably out hunting, Katsuki decided.

He stifled another yawn and popped two pieces of bread into the toaster, checking the time on the microwave as he waited.

Cool. It wasn't even seven yet.

His mind wandered for a moment and it settled on his uncomfortable dress code and how unfair the standards were. Aizawa, the pro hero, was free to stumble in in yoga pants and an old stained shirt. While he, as an intern, was required to show up in his restrictive black slacks, toe pinching leather shoes, and a white blouse; neatly tucked in, of course.

If it had been the Katsuki from two years ago, he would have said 'Fuck the world!' and worn whatever the hell he'd wanted.

But after everything that had happened, he didn't need more strange looks and people treating him like a fucking time bomb. He was already getting enough looks as it was. Things had gotten so bad recently that he had received countless complaints about his attitude and his recklessness, and yet he'd improved so much while the complaints remained the same. That was all bullshit, they were just scared of him -of what always found its way to him.

He couldn't say that he was the only one to be treated this way though, and that brought him some modicum of comfort. All the survivors from UA carried the same stigma, and most didn't have a pro like Aizawa to watch their backs.

Take Hitoshi Shinso for example, he had been outright kicked out from his previous stationing two towns over. They said that they'd had enough of his uncooperative personality and moody outbursts.

Now that he thought about it, wasn't Shinso supposed to transfer in today?

-The tart smell of something burning filled his nose, he looked down, startled to see smoke curling out from the toaster.

"Fuck!" Katsuki exclaimed as he quickly popped his now blackened toast out of the toaster.

"Bakugo!" Aizawa warned ineffectually from behind him, not tearing his eyes away from his phone. "Swearing."

Carlos gave another mewl, this one in protest, seemingly more perturbed by his owner's tone than the actual cursing.

"Blame this old toaster!" Katsuki shot back, as he tried to maneuver the 'no longer toast' onto a plate without burning his fingers.

He hastily spread butter on the coal for toast and plopped down a second later in the seat opposite the old hero and his froot loops.

They sat in silence for a moment, Katsuki very discontent while he forced down his mishap of a breakfast and Aizawa finishing off his cereal, bloodshot eyes trained on his phone.

"Did you read the news this morning?" Aizawa asked evenly before he lifted his bowl up to his lips and loudly slurped the excess milk from his cereal.

"No." Katsuki said, frowning bitterly. "I didn't have the chance."

"Hmm." Aizawa hummed, putting his empty bowl aside and nodding. He finally put his phone down and looked Katsuki in the eyes with a grave straightforwardness. "They hit the outposts again. Six men are dead. Fifteen were taken. They're trying to expand again."

"Of course they are." Katsuki said, wrinkling his nose in disgust, abandoning his toast on its plate. "They won't be satisfied until they have the whole fucking _world_ under their control."

Aizawa didn't comment on his cursing but instead nodded thoughtfully. "That's why we're going to have to work twice as hard to make sure that they stay where they're supposed to."

Katsuki gave a nod of agreement and pushed his nasty breakfast away, determination burning in his eyes.

"Let's get to work."


	2. Chapter 2

Twenty minutes later, Katsuki was swinging open the door to a conference room. A dozen reputable men and women twisted in their seats to shoot him glares in annoyance, he did his best to ignore them and gave the room a quiet nod. Aizawa shuffled in behind him, closing the door before silently joining him in taking a seat at the end of the table.

"Well, now that we're all here, we can get to business." The dog headed chief of police said, turning around to face the screen behind him. "Lets begin with the Vulcan research facility. We still haven't been able to dig anything up on its four infected researchers, nor why they have been posted there. It's sporadic moves like these that always hide the biggest threats. I hate to ask this, but Native, unfortunately your squad will have to continue to monitor the lab's results."

The pro hero Native gave a grim nod from two seats over. "We will continue to study them diligently." He said somberly.

"Glad to hear." The police chief said, his dog ears bouncing as he turned between his audience and the screen. "Moving on. If any of you have been keeping up with the press releases, you'll know that the infectees have made yet another move to spread beyond X city."

An image of the aforementioned city and its island came on screen. Cement buildings poked up behind a dusting of treetops. Foamy waves crashed against sheer cliffs. The image would have been picturesque, almost peaceful, if it weren't for the horrible people it was supposed to house.

Katsuki tried to hide his displeasure at the sight of it.

X city was a joke. A 'temporary measure', as the politicians called it. It only existed because none of the squeamish higher ups could agree on what to do with the infectees.

Even now the conflict was ongoing, some continued to argue for a humanitarian solution while others called for the radical quelling of anyone possibly infected by the hive mind. Both sides had run into an issue. On the humanitarian end, there was simply no way to successfully detain and hold the hive's exponentially growing number. On the other end, not many politicians nor heroes were willing to publicly announce support for something as extreme as mass murder; no matter their true thoughts.

So they'd all agreed to just quarantine the outbreak, by sticking the infected on an island and making sure that they didn't run amok in civilian territory. There was just one flaw with that "brilliant" plan, the infectees were perfectly able to dodge the military outposts, escape the island, and slip into human society. X city only existed to quell the minds of the ignorant citizens, meanwhile the hive mind was waiting patiently for a chance to pounce and devour those stupid little brains.

For all Katsuki knew, the lady who made him coffee every morning at Starbucks could have been another hive zombie. He couldn't help but think that she definitely smiled too much to be entirely sane.

"After their lull in activity over the recent months," The police chief continued. "We thought that they'd finally settled down. Maybe resolved themselves to coexist."

Katsuki had to keep himself from scoffing.

Like hell that was ever going to happen.

"It is more likely, however, that they are planning something big and this is simply the calm before the storm. As such, the bureau would like to have you all begin interrogating and activating all of the assets that we have. For Tsukauchi's, Tenma's, and Fat Gum's teams that unfortunately includes the suspects on our 'watch list'. Eraser Head's and Native's squads will lend you any extra manpower that you may need. For Eraser Head's squad there has been yet another ... visitor for you." He said, disgust evident in his voice. "Unfortunately, it appears that they are asking for Bakugo once again. I trust that you can handle this young man…?"

Sideways glances and poorly disguised looks of disgust slid down the table to Katsuki.

He kept his eyes trained on the police chief, as if he hadn't noticed those toxic eyes drilling into his soul. His hands shook in his lap, curled into fists. He felt like punching something.

So they'd shown up at his work place again? Great, now he was bound to get even more strange looks.

Aizawa frowned and stood up, drawing their gazes away.

"Thank you sir. If you'll excuse us, we would like to resolve this issue as soon as possible." He said, his tone impassive.

"Yes, that's fine." The police chief said with a nod that sent his dog ears bouncing. "As usual, we will be observing from here. If either of you feel unsafe, we will not hesitate to send you aid."

Aizawa returned the nod in silent acknowledgement and turned towards the door, tapping Katsuki's shoulder on his way out. The young man fought to keep his poker face as he followed the old hero outside.

Once they had finally closed the door behind them, Katsuki allowed himself to grimace.

Aizawa's eyes lingered on his expression for a moment, before he tossed out a, "Lets go." and began walking down the hall.

Katsuki jammed his hands into his pockets, huffed angrily as he strode up beside Aizawa, and glared at the cheapy reflective linoleum-tile floor that stretched before them.

They walked in silence for a moment, each bracing themselves to face the skeletons that they held tucked haphazardly into their metaphorical closets.

"They're late this month, aren't they?" Aizawa said after a minute.

Katsuki clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Yeah. I was hoping that they'd finally given up. That, or at least give me some space to breathe."  
"Well, I guess that it'll just be more of the usual then." Aizawa said with a sigh as a large glass panel came into view. "Just remember that it doesn't matter how much valuable information you think you can get, you should always, always, prioritize your safety." He said more sternly.

Katsuki rolled his eyes. Why did he always have to reinforce the same bullshit rules? He wasn't a newborn, he had common sense.

They stopped at a door adjacent to the large glass panel.

Aizawa fixed him with eyes burning with concern. "I need to know that you'll be okay."  
"If I'm not, then you know that I'll deal with it." Katsuki said, his eyes peering through the glass for a moment.  
The young man who they'd apprehended sat strapped to a chair behind a table, his foot tapping the floor impatiently. Today it was spiky red hair, razor sharp teeth, and a radiant smile.

This one he could handle, even if he always found a way of striking all the right buttons.

Katsuki sighed, putting his hand on the handle, "Let's just get this over with."

He pushed the door open and stepped into the room. His eyes first shot to the camera that hung in the far corner of the room, opposite the door. A little red light blinked in a corner of the apparatus. The higher ups were watching.

Good, maybe he could finally show them that he wasn't nearly as much of a risk as they thought he was.

Kirishima's face lit up immediately.

"Bakugo! Hey man! It's good to see you. I've been so bored in here." He was smiling at Katsuki in an excitement that he clearly didn't reciprocate. "Don't you think they should put books or a TV screen in places like these? I mean, who's gunna wanna talk if they've been staring at the ceiling for hours, ya know what I mean?"  
Katsuki felt a wave of revulsion and hate roll through him, but he clamped down on those emotions and set his jaw. As he took a seat, he kept his face devoid of any emotion. If he betrayed even a flicker of anger or regret, he knew that Kirishima would find a way to use it against him, to get him talking more than he should.

"You're late this month." He said flatly.

Kirishima blinked at him for a second, aware that his greeting had been completely ignored. Just as quickly, the confusion was gone and his smile was back.

"Well I wanted to be original, maybe surprise you this time. You know, give you a little scare." He said, quirking his eyebrows, grinning playfully. "So? Scared?"

"No."

Kirishima's smile stayed where it was and he raised his eyebrows facetiously.

"Come on Bakugo, I've risked my life by visiting you at this horrible taskforce center. You don't even want to pretend to be surprised?" At the sight of Katsuki's frown and obvious lack of a reaction, he gave a sigh and relented. "Fine. I get it. No joking around today. Geez, you're even worse than Iida. -I mean, he's gotten better with time, but still.- I just don't understand how you can live so seriously. It must be so boring having a stick up your ass all the time! Isn't that like super stressful?"

Katsuki crossed his arms and sat back. "And who's fault would it be that my life is so fuc-" He had been about to say 'fucked up', but then he'd remembered that he had an audience. If he wanted to gain any brownie points from his superiors, he would have to avoid sounding crass.  
"- for making my life such a disaster?"

Kirishima's smile dropped to a frown and his brow deepened in concern. "You know, that thats not what we wanted to do…. You...-you don't have to stay like this Bakugo. We're still waiting for you." He said with a tilt of his head, imploring in his own manic way.

"Yeah, well my answer is still the same." Katsuki shot back evenly. Kirishima opened his mouth to say more, but Katsuki held up a hand and cut him off. "No. We're not having this conversation again."

He shrugged and looked away. "If you say so Bakugo." His eyes slid over to Katsuki slyly. "I just wanted to offer, let you know that we're still here for you." He said more quietly.

Katsuki's blood boiled and his eyes flared with anger at his words.

He was never going to stop spewing his bullshit, was he? No matter what Katsuki did, this son of a bitch was going to incriminate them both! He realized with a chill that that might be the goal.

He would just have to stay level headed. He just needed to get this over with -Ask the questions and get out- then he wouldn't have to talk to the moron for at least another month.

"We've gotten off topic." Katsuki said cooly. "Let's talk about what you're planning. Why are you making such a public show of rebelling on X island? We all know that you've been quietly digging your claws into us for years. Why make so much noise now?"

Kirishima's sly smile grew into a mischievous grin. "Well, why shouldn't we make noise? Why not wreak some havoc? As much as we would like our worlds to meld seamlessly, your superiors," He said, jerking his chin at the camera in the corner, "have proven that they're not willing to make this process a smooth one. So we've decided to have some fun."

Right. Fun. Genocide and kidnapping. FUN.

Katsuki set his shoulders and crossed his arms. Stay calm, he reminded himself.

"Yes, yes. I know how discontent you are with our side's reaction. But, I'm sure that I don't need to tell you how much of an issue this is for everyone else. You're upending lives and sewing paranoia. It's obvious that we would try to stop you." He said as calmly as he could.  
"But all of that pain and fear, it's just temporary." Kirishima insisted, leaning forward in desperation and his grin beginning to look more and more manic. Katsuki watched as the constraints around his wrists dug further into his skin. "Can't you see that Bakugou? The faster you fold, the faster it'll be over. If all of you would just stop resisting, then you wouldn't have to suffer!"

"Stop resisting?" He said incredulously. "I see that despite all your friendly talk before, you're still the fanatical, shit for brains, hive zombie from three years ago." He said, scoffing.

"-I don't even know why you're so angry about that. It was a really, really, long time ago, and I didn't hurt you!"

"You were massacring policemen! You were covered in blood, and you were smiling!" Katsuki hissed indignantly, leaning in.

"They were in the way! I-" Kirishima exclaimed defensively before suddenly stopping himself. He paused and took a deep breath. "Look I get that it must have been jarring for you to see me like that, but…. I'm not going to apologize. I don't feel guilty about what I've done."

"I can see that." Katsuki shot back coldly. "Your double digit body count speaks for itself."

Kirishima sighed in anguish and sat back against his chair. For a moment they sat in a charged silence, Katsuki's eyes staring at Kirishima in quiet accusation and loathing while Kirishima leaned back in his chair and bit his lip nervously.

"Are all of our conversations going to end up like this?" The latter asked with a huff, his eyes trained on the ceiling.

"Well we could have avoided this if you hadn't gone and made this so fucking personal!" Katsuki shot back.

"You know that I just… I just wish that we could talk to each other normally."

"This is normal now." Katsuki spat, his nose wrinkled in disgust. "Ever since you all went and became murdering psychopaths!"

"I told you already, it's not as bad as it looks." Kirishima said with a roll of his eyes.

Katsuki's hands shook in rage. "N-not as bad -Not as bad?" There was a scrape of metal against the floor as Katsuki pushed his chair back, to stand up; knocking it over in a clatter of noise when he stood too fast. He slammed his hands down on the table. Kirishima barely flinched. "Three hundred people are missing or dead because of you! I'd say that thats pretty fucking bad, shit for brains!"

The other boy frowned at him, hurt flickering in his eyes for just a moment. "Look, do you plan on spending the rest of the morning yelling at me? Or do you actually want to do your job? 'Cause I've done mine and I actually have somewhere to be."

Katsuki scowled, suddenly reminded that he was still being watched and that he did indeed have a job to do. He couldn't afford to continue talking circles with this maniac.

"You're insane." He said, running his hand over his face.

"Thanks man." Kirishima said with a shrug, a grin slowly returning to his lips. "What can I say? Izuku's a slave driver. I've got to stay focused."

"That wasn't a compliment. I just -At least tell me if you're willing to actually answer any of my questions." Katsuki said bitterly.

"Hmmm." Kirishima hummed thoughtfully. "Yeah I don't think that I'm allowed to disclose much of anything."

"Then this has been a huge waste of time." Katsuki spat, turning away. "I don't even know why I bother talking to any of you. It's not like I ever get anything more than mindless taunts and crazy looks." He murmured to himself as he walked towards the door.

"Isn't it because you are also hoping that the answer will be different?" Kirishima said, cocking his head.

Katsuki's eyes went wide in surprise and he stopped dead in his tracks. What did he mean? What was he insinuating?

Before he could respond, the door was thrown open. Aizawa stood in the doorway.

"Bakugo. Out. Now." He said gruffly.

Katsuki shot Kirishima one last glare over his shoulder, to which the boy smiled amiably and gave a wave.

"I hope that we'll see you again soon." He chirped.

Aizawa's dark look deepened and Katsuki stepped out into the hall.

The hero slammed the door shut behind him.

"What the hell?" He hissed. "You told me that you would get out if you ever felt threatened!"  
"I didn't-" Katsuki began, looking away.

"You got too invested." Aizawa interrupted, black eyes jabbing at him. "I saw you lose your cool. You let him get under your skin!"

Katsuki clenched his fists but didn't meet his eyes. He was right. He hadn't held onto his feelings like he should have. He hadn't exerted the necessary control.

Aizawa gave a heavy sigh. Katsuki looked to find the old hero pressing the palm of his hand to his temple, as if attempting to work away some heavy worry.

"No. You know what? That was my fault." He said, his eyes still closed. "I should have pulled you out as soon as I saw him working you. I should have known that Kirishima was going to be a tricky one. I shouldn't have sent you in there with him."

Katsuki's expression shifted from shock to resolution. "No. If there is anyone to blame for this outcome its them." He said, eyes shifting to glare at the red haired boy through the one way mirror. "It's all their fault. Everything." He said bitterly.

Aizawa gave another sigh and smiled hollowly. "I appreciate the attempt to make me feel better, but things are rarely so simple."

Katsuki didn't know how to respond to that so he just frowned as a silence settled around them, until a listless voice interrupted it.  
"Wow… "

A boy, with unrully violet hair and massive bruises under his beady eyes, was leaning against the window and glaring at the captive on the other side. Katsuki recognized him almost immediately as Hitoshi Shinso, a boy who had not only been there at the tragedy of UA, but was also due to transfer into their unit this afternoon.

"So this is what one of yours looks like?" He said, unamused, his red rimmed eyes shooting to appraise Aizawa and Katsuki. "Mine tend to look more roughed up by the time I've spoken to them."They stared at him in stunned silence for a moment and, seeing no reaction, he continued. "So… what do you plan to do with him? Do you want to interrogate him? Beat him up? Maybe torture him?"

Aizawa's lips pressed into a hard line and his eyes set into a sturdy glare. "No. If we don't let him walk out, his friends will come to find him. They'll tear down our building if it means recapturing him."

"How do you know?" Shinso asked, cocking his head. His face remained expressionless, his eyes hollow and dead. "I think that it could be worth a shot."

Aizawa set his jaw, but before he could say anything Katsuki cut him off.

"We know because it's happened before." He said coldly. His eyes, burning with irritation at his sudden appearance and indolent attitude. "The first time they showed up here, we captured and attempted to interrogate them. After a few hours, a team showed up. They completely demolished the building while looking for him. Not only was the interrogation fruitless, but the branch had to relocate as a result."

"So they've shown up here multiple times." Hitoshi said thoughtfully, eyes evaluating Kirishima in disgust. "Mine have never been that ruthless. I would have expected more from the 1-A monsters."

Aizawa's lips pressed into a frown. "What are you doing here Shinso? I thought that you weren't supposed to come in until later today."

He cocked his head, tearing his eyes away from Kirishima to look at the hero. "I decided to drop by a little bit early. I passed Fat Gum in the lobby and he told me that you would be here."

"Right." Aizawa said, brushing past Bakugo. "I'll show you around then."

Bakugo made to follow him, but Aizawa turned to him and held up a hand.

"I'll handle Shinso. Why don't you take the rest of the day off? Maybe go see Angela." He whispered. Katsuki furrowed his brow and was about to protest when Aizawa cut him off. "-Between this and your dreams, it's obvious that you're at your limit. You can't keep bottling these thoughts up. If you want to stay grounded, you'll need to properly adress those thoughts.."

Katsuki grimaced. Of fucking course.

Aizawa always did this when they had to face one of them, always pushing him away so that he could process on his own.

"Fine." He said begrudgingly.

"Dreams? What kind of dreams?" Shinso asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

Katsuki looked at him for a moment, a little surprised and put off by his insistence on knowing everything that might have to do with the infected.

Yet, that same obsessive manner, reminded Katsuki of himself. -Yes.

Those deep bruises under his eyes, those tense shoulders, and those twitchy glances back to Kirishima in the next room over. Katsuki had been almost exactly like that a little over a year ago.

Back then he'd done nothing but work, and few would have been able to attest to his sanity at that point. He'd been certain that they were watching him constantly, that his every movement and thought were being relayed to them in order to feed that perverse affection they claimed to hold.

It had taken over a year to relinquish that unhealthy mindset and settle into a life that held some semblance of normalcy. A part of him thought that maybe Shinso might understand his struggle against them. But, as close as their symptoms were, Katsuki suffered from a severely different trauma. His abuser hadn't been predemonentaly external.

As much as Katsuki could see himself in Shinso, as much as he wanted to confide in him, he could see that the boy hated these traitors from the very core of his being.

If Katsuki were to tell him the true reason for these nightmares, Shinso would surely think of him as some sort of disgusting monster.

He would hate him -No. He would surely want him dead; possibly dissected, as Aizawa feared the council would if they knew the truth.

That horrible self preservation that had both dug his grave and ensured that he stayed free and very much alive, gripped his tongue. His mouth suddenly went dry and he grimaced.

"Just dreams." He said simply. "Aizawa, I'll see you later." and sent a wave over his shoulder as he turned to leave.

As he walked down the hall, down the stairs, and out through the front lobby, he couldn't help but think that maybe Aizawa was right about going to see Angela.

He was definitely feeling a little 'unsteady'.

The dream from last night still replayed in his mind. Those alluring waters. Such beautiful peace at a simple touch. He could easily imagine the bliss of letting go of his shaggy little boat and letting the current swallow him whole. To be enveloped in that endless joy for eternity.

An image of Kirishima flashed in his mind. His face was distorted into a monstrous grin and his red eyes glowed in the low light.

His voice echoed tantalizingly in Katsuki's ears.

"Isn't it because you're also hoping for another answer?"

A wave of emotion, crashed into him, quickly followed by a deep seeded disgust and nausea, knocking whatever he'd been thinking straight out of his head.

He looked down at his hands and realized that they were shaking violently. Panic struck him like lightning. Something was really fucking wrong.


	3. Chapter 3

Katsuki's heart sped up in panic.

What was that? It couldn't have been… -No, it was too soon for it to be happening again.

What had caused it? What had he been thinking about?

Fuck. That dream. Again.

He shook his head violently, in an attempt to banish the thought from his mind.

This was not a good sign.

Angela! He thought desperately as he pushed his way past the tinted glass doors and out onto the street. He was going to need her help if he didn't want to spiral even more. He could only hope that he would make it to her before things got too bad.

Katsuki's eyes screamed at the sudden blast of harsh sunlight, as he exited the branch's office building, and it sent an already mounting migraine into overdrive.

He stumbled down the street and rubbed his temple in annoyance.

He had to keep his mind heavily trained on the task at hand. Past experience had taught him that if he let his mind stray even for a moment there would be disastrous consequences…

He kept his eyes trained on his feet, counting his footsteps and focusing on its constant rhythm.

His head pounded now and his eyes strained to focus on the blurring pavement.

As the migraine mounted, it battered his mental barriers and drew his concentration. This was by no means a normal migraine, Katsuki realized with a groan, and it was a definite indicator that this was going to be a pretty horrible fucking day.

He was sure that he looked half mad, stumbling down the street, only half aware of himself. He had bumped into a couple people already, but he hadn't even had the energy to respond.

It didn't matter.

All he needed to do was make it to Angela's and she was going to help him get rid of this.

That was all he had to think about- But Fuck!

It just hurt so much!

This was torture! Abuse!

He wanted it to end.

All of it.

The hate, the self loathing, the constant vigilance against some internal and external menace. It was just exhausting and pointless and he was just so tired now. He'd been fighting for years without rest and he'd been angry for so long.

Everyone he had set himself on hating was off being fucking happy while he was sitting here torturing himself, for no good reason.

He'd finally reached his limit. He was done.

This could be over with within seconds.

He could let them swallow him. He could finally be at peace.

All he would have to do is let go of his petty reservations and simply stop fighting.

He was suddenly aware of the familiar voices whispered invitingly at the edges of his mind. They should have been alarming and disturbing, but instead the experience was comforting. He was vaguely aware of them tearing at his defences and breaking down the very mental barriers that he had employed to help him resist them, but he didn't mind. They were filling the gnawing void that had been eating away at him in their absence. He was home. Finally.

"Kachaan!"

Another familiar voice… He could make out its owner's face, such bright green eyes, such a nostalgic smile.

It rippled through the innumerable voices like a mantra. It was exhilarating and yet there was something… unsettling about it that made him pause.

He hated that name with such a passion… hated it? Why?

Like lightning, his senses struck him and he recoiled.

Fuck…

Fuck!

FUCK!

Katsuki was suddenly made aware of himself and exactly what he had been about to do.

It was repulsive and nauseating! These fuckers just couldn't leave him alone, could they?

He wrapped his arms around himself with a frown, as if to ward off any further temptations, and found himself drenched in sticky, nitroglicerin infused, sweat.

A whisper of voices came from in front of him, these ones very much outside of his head.

His eyes shot up and he looked around to find himself standing in the middle of a crowded street. People walked around him in a thick storm of bustling bodies and, while most seemed to be ignoring him, a few had paused to whisper to each other.

"Why'd he stop?"

"Eww, whats wrong with him?" "I think he's insane. Just look at those eyes."

"Should we call the police?" "Nah, let someone else do it."

Katsuki felt his face flush. Ordinarily he would have yelled at them, told them to fuck off, but he was so unstable at the moment that all he could do was try to regain some bearings about himself.

Where was he? What was he doing here?

His eyes darted around in a panic, he recognized buildings, stores, street names.

He was only a few blocks away from Angela's place.

Angela! He'd been on his way to see Angela!

Fuck! Was he so messed up that he couldn't even remember who he wanted help from?

He stumbled forward, once again setting course for the therapist's office.

He scowled as he walked. His legs felt rubbery and foreign and his head pounded like he'd been hit by a truck.

Fuck! Just how far gone had he been?

He was sure that it had been only for mere seconds, but he'd been so completely consumed by them… Again?

How many times had he slipped within the past few months? Six- no seven times?

Shit. He was really starting to lose his grip.

A few excruciating minutes later and he'd found his way to Angela's building.

He could hear them whispering again, like gnats in the back of his mind, buzzing in equal parts excitement and frustration. He knew it, he felt it resounding in his own chest.

-Ugh. Fuck.

Would they never shut up…

He promptly pressed the buzzer for her apartment. Her voice rang clearly through the intercom.

"Hello?"

"Angela its me, I'm in trouble. I need… help." He said in exhaustion, swallowing his pride in his desperation.

"Katsuki! Oh my god! Come up!"

There was an audible click as the door unlocked and he pushed his way inside. He stumbled his way up to the third floor and found her standing there on the landing. The little woman, with her light brown hair and endearingly nasty sweater, coaxed him hurriedly into her office.

The voices hated her.

Katsuki's ears rang as they buzzed in annoyance. Several voices implored that he escape her grasp, some encouraged him to make her pay for consistently ripping him from them.

Mina distinguished herself with a "Bakugo! Punch her for me! I want to see her bleed!"

To which there was a roar of approval and a wave of similar suggestions.

Katsuki sent them all a hearty "Fuck off, you vicious pricks! She's off limits!" with what little energy he could muster.

There was a round of variations of "Come on, stop being such a hardass!" and "You know you love us!".

Angela meanwhile, had sat Katsuki down in a large armchair and was trying to get his attention. "Katsuki? Katsuki? Are you okay?"

He stared at her in bewilderment and blinked a few times in confusion. "W-what?"

"You were out for a few seconds."

"Hmm… Sorry, they got really loud." He said, smiling faintly. He rested his head against the back of the chair. Everything hurt and his head felt like a lead balloon, at once so light and so unbelievably heavy for his body. "Mina wants me to punch you in the face."

She frowned and glanced down at his relaxed fist for a moment. "That bad, huh?"

"That bad." He parroted in agreement while nodding groggily.

"You're not going to do it though, right?"

"Nooope." He said, with a grin, before frowning. He suddenly felt oddly proud of himself.

Relief washed over her face. "Good. Just give me a second to get ready, then we can set you straight." She turned around and began to fuss with something on a counter opposite him. He couldn't see exactly what it was from around her back, but he vaguely knew that it should be some candle or incense or something. That's what it had been in the past, but he'd never been quite lucid enough by this point to really find out.

"Just sit there for n-…. You know this would have been a lot easier if you had called even two minutes ahead of time. How should I pre-….. You have my phone number right?" She said, her voice audible in odd spurts, like a broken radio that kept losing signal.

Katsuki realized that he must have been drifting off again. He didn't have much time.

"Angela… " He struggled out. His lips, his body, hell even his mind, felt so light, numb, and distant from himself that he couldn't properly control them anymore. "Hurry…" He could feel his eyes sliding shut.

She spun around, "Hey! Hey, Bakugo! Come on just look into my eyes."

He looked up. Such vibrant blue irises, and they were glowing, glowing so brightly that it hurt his eyes to look at them.

The voices protested, told him to look away.

His eyes slowly slid aside.

"No! Bakugo! Here! Eyes here!" Angela said, grabbing his chin and wrenching his face back towards her.

He complied until he was sure that the bright rings of her irises were burned into his retinas, and only then did his eyes slide closed in exhaustion.

His body and mind tried to slip off into sleep, but he should have known that he wasn't going to get any of that. Instead, he was immediately plunged into a storm of emotions and images.

Rage and hurt and smiles and tears flashed across his mind. So much pain and anguish, then a brief flash of relief, followed by endless torment.

Like a movie being played at two times speed, his life flashed before his eyes. One particular moment, really it was a millisecond in the stretch of years, stood out in clear definition. It was a singularly important memory, and it was worn with how often he had revisited it, like a well polished stone or a smooth piece of driftwood.

It was a memory, from three years prior, of the day that had completely derailed his life.

Before he could protest or really think otherwise, he was sucked into the memory and forced to relive that horrifying day all over again.

It was a pleasant morning in early July. Bakugo Katsuki sat in his desk at UA highschool. It would have been a perfectly normal day if it hadn't been for a severe lack of noisy, obnoxious, students…


	4. Chapter 4

Katsuki sat alone in the classroom with his feet kicked up on a desk, minding his own business. The room was unusually empty, baren of its usual cheer and noise. Any other day Katsuki would have questioned the suspicious lack of classmates, but today he was perfectly content to simply flick through his phone in peace.

He'd decided that his classmates were probably off fooling around anyways. Maybe planning a prank or something. They'd gotten into those lately, testing out new techniques and combinations to surprise the students and staff. They'd tried to invite him a few times, but he'd refused. He didn't have an interest in prancing around like a child and then getting an earful for it later.

A few awkward minutes passed in silence, Katsuki just scrolled through his phone in blissful solitude. Silence was fine with him, just as long as it meant being spared Iida's insufferable lectures or Mina's bottomless drawl of schoolwide gossip. Yes, this suited him just fine. Let them go have their fun. He was perfectly fine here.

Then the bell rang. No one appeared. Katsuki didn't think much of it. A few moments later Aizawa entered, as he usually did, shuffling over to the podium and rubbing his eyes groggily.

"Good Morning everyone." He said dryly as he set his attendance book and other materials on the podium. When he didn't receive any kind of response, he looked up, his brow furrowed, and uncharacteristic surprise flashed in his narrowed eyes. He surveyed the room for a moment until his attention settled on his singular student. "Bakugo. Is there something going on today that I wasn't made aware of?"  
Katsuki shrugged dismissively, gaze refusing to deviate from his entertainment.

"Hell if I know."

Aizawa frowned.

"Weird." He said thoughtfully.

The PA system crackled to life from above them, like it was programmed to on most Monday mornings; but instead of Present Mic's voice coming through the speaker like usual, it was Tenya Iida's that resounded through the room.

"**Good morning UA Highschool! We, class 1-A, have taken it upon ourselves to relay your announcements to you on this fine morning!**" He said cheerily.

Katsuki raised an eyebrow and let out a snort, unamused.

This was what they had skipped class for? Just so that they could hijack the morning announcements? Couldn't they have done something more entertaining with their sudden rebellion?

There was a rustling of paper and Iida cleared his throat.

"**Lets begin with the weekly announcements… It looks like the art club will be hosting an exhibit this weekend. Then on Friday, the school band will be playing in the outdoor amphitheatre. The marching band is going to be performing in a parade at the end of this month-**"

"**Iida shut up for a minute!**" A new voice interjected from further beyond the microphone. "**None of that stuff is important right now." **Mina's voice suddenly got louder, and she shifted into her peppy cheerleader mode. "**Listen up everyone! Starting today, your world is going to be getting a lot more exciting! We've got so many surprises lined up for you all! You're going to have **_**so**_ **much fun!"**

Iida cleared his throat again, sounding rather awkward; he was no doubt jostling for space in front of the mic. "**Right. Well, more specifically in exactly two minutes, we will be dropping the school's defense systems.**"

"**We've prepared a nice crowd of baddies to start things off with a **_**bang**_**! They're some real gruesome types, the kind that'll get your blood pumping! —Remember that cardio is good for your health, everyone. You need to remember to stay active, even if you're not in the hero course!**" Mina added enthusiastically with an innocent giggle that didn't match at all what she'd said.

Katsuki had frozen in his seat, eyes wide. What the hell was this? Where was all of this morbid bullshit coming from? Had he heard them wrong? He must have-

"**Exactly, so in just a few seconds now, I want you all to look outside and watch as your only defenses fall away**. **Know that this is the moment when the world will turn over.**"

"**Happy hunting everyone, and remember to do your best to survive!**" Mina announced, her voice light and giddy as if she hadn't just proclaimed the advent of a massacre.

Before Katsuki could decide exactly how to react to this alarming turn of events, he was left to watch in horror as, just on the other side of the window and across the lawn, the barriers fell to reveal a mob of characters. As they charged forth in a swarm of bodies and cries, Katsuki could only watch them in stupefied horror, only a vague whisper on his lips.

"What the fucking hell…" He breathed out, eyes wide.

"Bakugo get away from the windows!" Aizawa exclaimed from behind him, grabbing his arm and yanking him away. This seemed to pull Katsuki from his stupor and he turned towards his teacher with a glare.

"Let go of me!" He growled, yanking his arm from his teacher's grasp.

Aizawa ignored the bite in his voice and instead narrowed his eyes, flicking his gaze between his student and the danger that was swiftly approaching.

"We need to move, it's not safe here. These windows wont hold against that horde." He stated with an absolute certainty that left little room for question. Aizawa spun on his heel and moved towards the door out of the classroom, muttering to himself. "This is becoming an emergency. We need to start rounding up the students and moving them somewhere safe." He was walf way to the exit, when he seemed to realize that Katsuki wasn't following him. He turned to raise an eyebrow to his student, his voice urgent and a little frustrated. "Bakugo I need you to stay very close to me. Never leave my side, alright?"

He meant business. But Katsuki didn't like that tone. He refused to be some damsel.

"I don't need you to protect me." Bakugo snarled. Aizawa's gaze hardened.

"I'm not doubting your capability Bakugo!" Aizawa threw back, gritting his teeth in frustration, "This is a very dangerous situation in which we have very little information, and even less control! As your teacher I have a duty to ensure your safety. I cannot do this if I lose track of you! I need to know that you will be keeping up with me!"

Katsuki held his gaze for a moment, before he clicked his tongue and relented. Aizawa had a point. This was an emergency. He'd just have to deal with his teacher's protective bullshit.

"Fine."

Aizawa's shoulders dropped a bit as he relaxed back into his usual stoop. He gave Katsuki a nod as he turned back towards the door. "Good. Now let's get out of here."

Katsuki followed him begrudgingly.

It was in this moment -Aizawa with one hand on the doorknob and Katsuki just a step behind with a sour scowl on his face- that they both heard the thunderous shattering of the windows. They both spun around, eyes blown wide open in surprise as shards of glass fell through the air and two men landed on the floor, their eyes flashing menacingly. One rose from his crouch and dusted himself off, shaking the stray shards of glass off of his floor length trench coat.

"Aw, just our luck." He said, harsh disappointment lacing his voice. He was a good head taller than Katsuki and his little black eyes stared down at him with disdain. "We got the 1-A class. You'd think the brats would have warned us."

The other man straightened beside him, wild yellow eyes settled on them and tilted as the second man cocked his head, the odd blue fins on the sides of his head shifted with the movement. Tinted scales glisted against his skin and disappeared under the collar of his limp, yellow, turtleneck.

"Really? I think that we got quite lucky." The fishman commented. "I've been wanting to face Eraser Head for a while n-"

The flash of a white scarf cut him off as it wrapped around his torso and dragged him forwards. The man fell under the sudden force and landed on his front, arms pinned to his sides. Katsuki heard a muffled "Son of a bitch!" come from the man before a blur of movement sped past him. What must have been Aizawa darted like lightning across the room.

Without hesitating for a moment, Aizawa ran right up to the last villain standing, body weight shifting back at the last second for a limb to dart out. In a snap of movement and a rush of wind, everything suddenly stopped. The villain with the trenchcoat had caught Aizawa's kick and his leg was now frozen mid-throw. The two eyed each other icily.

"What do you want here?" Aizawa ground out.

"How about a little revenge against you elitist assholes!" The villain snarled, lips twisting with spite. "Not so perfect anymore, huh? No more hiding behind your 'pretentious institutions' and skewed 'lawfulness'."

Aizawa grimaced and wretched his leg out of the man's grasp.

"I'm sorry to hear that you feel that way," Aizawa said, his voice straining to an even tone. "but I just need to know one thing before we go head to head: What do you know about my students?" His eyes flicked over to Katsuki for just a second.

He'd been watching everything with some mix of shock and wonder. That seemed to be the flavor of the morning thus far. At the mention of his classmates Kastsuki scowled and looked away. He really wished that he knew what had happened to them. Everything he'd heard from them had sounded fanatical and completely out of character. They were heroes and yet this whole morning had seemed more like the work of deranged villains.

"The brats?" The true villain across from him said, face twisting in disgust. "Honestly, they give me the chills. I've only seen them once, but let me say — I've never seen children be so fearless when facing hundreds of villains"  
"No, they weren't fearless! Those kids are unhinged! I almost shit myself when they walked into our hideout!" The fishman exclaimed from the floor. "At first we were ready to bash 'um, but then that green haired kid with the freckles hit George -and we thought he'd be okay, 'cuz George was a big guy- but when I looked again there was blood everywhere. They'd just popped George like a balloon and they were covered in his guts. Those psychos didn't even blink."

The man in the trenchcoat gave a shudder. "Right. Don't remind me."

"What happened after that?" Aizawa said, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

Katsuki could tell that he was just as confused by this story as he was. This didn't sound like his classmates at all. Most of all, definitely not Deku. He hated to see people hurt. That idiot would have sooner worked himself to death than see a person die in front of him, much less kill them with his own hands. That thought turned his stomach. It was just so wrong.

"Then this one kid, the one with two colored hair and the scar-"

"Oh my god! Endeavor's kid." The fishman interjected, face pale and eyes wide. "That's when I shit myself."

"Yeah, well that one stepped up, announcing that they had a proposition for us." Trenchcoat said, rolling his eyes. "They asked us if we wanted a shot at demolishing UA. They said that they needed a distraction-"

"We agreed of course, 'cuz who doesn't want a shot at this fucking trophy house."

"Wait. Wait. Wait!" Aizawa said, shaking his head in confusion. "You said that they needed a distraction."

"What for?" Katsuki added, stepping forwards.

He was certain now, something was seriously wrong here. His classmates were acting absolutely batshit and it was sounding like Katsuki'd have to be the one to knock some sense into them.

"I actually couldn't make out too much of what they said. Something about family and their alma mater."

Aizawa turned to the Fisman with an inquisitive, raised, eyebrow.

"Yeah, um, I kinda ran out at this point too." Fishman added sheepishly.

"Did they say where they'd be?" Katsuki tacked on quickly.

The two villains made weary eye contact for a moment, as if confirming something between them.

"I think they mentioned a cafeteria. That we had to stay away from it or something like that." The trenchcoat villain said, suddenly eyeing Aizawa with a grin. "Now I've answered your dumb questions. Are we going to fight or what-" The wail of approaching police sirens drowned out his next words. The villain's expression immediately soured and he threw up his hands in exasperation. "Oh you've got to be shitting me! They're here already?"

"Well that was a shitty raid." Fishman said in defeat, his disappointed expression held upright by the way that he'd propped his chin on the linoleum floor

A moment passed in which Aizawa looked between the both of them, before he seemed to come to some decision.  
"Look, why don't I let you guys run out of here? Jump through the window and get off campus. If you don't come back, you won't get caught."

Trenchcoat's eyes were wide in surprise. "Why would you-"

"Because you guys will be one less thing to worry about! I don't want to waste time turning you guys in for custody. I need to go find my kids."

"That's fine by me." Fishman said with a grin.

"Good."

Aizawa gave his scarf a masterful tug and it unraveled from around its captive.

Trenchcoat's thin lips shifted into a smile as he turned towards the window.

"Thanks."

"You know, you're not that bad Eraserhead." Fishman said, rising to his feet.

Aizawa just scowled. "Just get out of here."

"Aight man, I get it, I get it." Fishman shot back.

Trenchcoat jumped through to the other side and shot a worried look at the exposed street, before helping his friend through. Fishman landed beside him with a grunt and quickly scurried off. Trenchcoat hesitated for a moment, looking indecisive.

"You better hurry up. You're just wasting your own time." Katsuki snarled impatiently.

"I know, kid. I just hope that you…. survive today."

"Oh trust me, I'm not the one you have to worry about. I plan on tearing those idiots a new one."

"Whatever you say blondie." He looked between the both of them with a sigh. "Just stay safe. We weren't kidding when we said that they were terrifying. There's something seriously wrong with those kids."  
"Thanks for the warning, we'll handle it." Aizawa said, tapping Katsuki's shoulder and motioning him towards the door.

"Come on man!" Fishman called from somewhere beyond their view. "They're going to be here any second!"

"I know, I'm coming." Trenchcoat called back, eyes returning to fixate on Bakugo. "It's just… They mentioned you I think. They said something about a missing piece, a classmate that they needed."

Katsuki's blood ran cold. They _needed_ him? What the hell for?

Before Katsuki got to ask any questions in elaboration, the sirens grew louder and a wave of police cars spilled into the exposed street and roared across the lawn.

"Ok, I'm out! Bye you two. Stay safe!" Trenchcoat exclaimed before ducking out of sight and charging away.

The two of them just stood there for a moment, shocked.

"Well that was sudden." Aizawa said numbly. After a moment he took a deep breath and turned back towards the door. "We should probably get moving too. With the police here, hopefully we can get some kind of handle on this chaos."

"We better be going to the cafeteria." Katsuki muttered as he followed his teacher out into the hall.

"Don't worry, we'll make it there. I just want to see if anyone needs help first."

"Come on, everyone is going to 'need help'." Katsuki growled.

"Bakugo, these students have just been attacked. Most probably aren't able to defend themselves-" Aizawa's phone began to buzz, cutting him off. He picked up and held it up to his ear. "Hizashi! Hey it's good to hear from you. Are you safe?" There was a pause. "Yeah we are too… Bakugou? Yeah, he's with me. Don't worry… We're going to the cafeteria. Apparently my kids are there… " They had been passing empty classrooms with open doors for some time now and they hadn't seen a soul, but Katsuki was starting to become increasingly aware of a series of voices. He looked to Aizawa with a raised eyebrow. His teacher nodded in acknowledgement and they sped up while he finished his call. "Hey, man. Thanks for checking in on us, but I have to go. I think that we've stumbled across a situation." Aizawa said hurriedly before hanging up and pocketing his phone. The closer they got, the more alarming the noises became. Screams, shouts and the sounds of battle came from just around the corner at the end of the hall.

By the time they'd turned the corner, Kastuki's heart was pounding in his chest. This didn't sound good.

It didn't _look_ good either.

Innumerable fights had erupted here and were in full throw. Students and teachers alike had been scattered in sweaty, messy, battles against just as many villains.

Katsuki's eyes were blown wide as he surveyed the chaos. He had to help. He knew that, but where should he start? There was a fight everywhere he looked and each looked equally perilous and close. In fact, it was so close that he couldn't quite parse who was who.

Before Katsuki himself could even decide what he was looking at, Aizawa shot off to join some nearby scuffle. It hadn't even been three seconds and already his teacher had made a calculated decision. Katsuki could only watch in shock as his teacher threw his scarf around one man from behind and managed to throw him against a window opposite them, breaking it and sending him through it. The sound of its shattering was lost amongst the screams and hollers that echoed around him.

Katsuki suddenly felt small and useless as he stood frozen in the opening of that hallway.

Why the fuck was he frozen? He was Katsuki Bakugo. He didn't get overwhelmed. Not him.

He couldn't think. He had to act. There was a villain just a few feet away, perfectly within range, who had his back to him. That was a decent enough target.

Without further thought, Katsuki launched himself towards the villain and landed a satisfying barrage of explosions to the man's side.

The villain let out a screech in surprise. He turned in rage and Katsuki didn't give him even a moment to react. He grabbed the villain's face in his hands and let off more explosions, these meant to stun him more than anything.

Katsuki would have loved to absolutely destroy the villain in his hands, but he was sure that there would be some serious consequences later, so he held back just a bit. He'd have to settle for leaving the man concussed and with some nicely charred skin. As soon as Katsuki had released him, he dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes and Katsuki stood over him, grinning as he panted in exertion.

That had felt pretty good. Maybe he'd get to hit another dozen of these morons before things started to turn in their favor.

Just as he was about to move on to the next fight he saw, a voice stopped him.

"Bakugo? Is that you? -Wait a minute!" A vaguely familiar voice exclaimed desperatley after him.

Katsuki spun around to find that bossy 1-B girl with the orange hair facing him. She must have been hiding behind the villain, because he'd completely missed her up until now.

She looked horrible. She was leaning against the wall for support and her face was contorted in pain. She was covered in scrapes, including a particularly nasty gash along her arm, and she was cradling her hand awkwardly. If Katsuki remembered correctly, her quirk made her hands larger, so that must have been a debilitating blow.

Perhaps it was because of this pain that her words came out bitter and sharp.

"I thought so. What are _you_ doing _here_?" He'd expected her to be a little more gentle, but her words were pointed and accusatory instead.

Her sudden attitude was ticking him off. Hadn't he just saved her? What was she complaining about?  
"What the fuck are you talking about? I'm here to help." He snarled at her in response.

"Yeah, well we don't want your help!" She spat out venomously. There was something defensive about it. Her lip began to shake and she suddenly seemed to curl in on herself, tears sprang into her eyes. Katsuki could only watch in mild horror as she devolved into near hysterics. "You can shove your salvation or whatever bullshit, right up your psychopathic assholes! We don't want it. Leave us the fuck alone!"

"K-kendo? Are you okay?" He asked, in stupefied horror. Something had obviously happened to her. Someone had done this.

She glared back at him while the tears dripped stubbornly down her cheeks.

"Shut up! Stop acting concerned! I know it's not real-"  
"Hey! I'm serious!" He said more insistently, reaching up to touch her shoulder. "Talk to me. What happened?" He tried more softly.

She looked up at him and her eyes went wide in realization. "Oh my god! You're not!" The tears came back at full force. "Oh my god, you're not one of them!" She exclaimed, her hands flew to her mouth in relief as she fell back against the wall behind her. Kendo's eyes scanned his face as words spewed from her mouth in some incoherent apology. "I thought- I was so certain that- They said that your class was- I assumed! Oh God, I'm so sorry." She buried her face in her hands in defeat.

He stared at her for a moment, feeling impossibly awkward. "Do you need a minute to calm down, or something?" He asked stiffly.

She gave a nod and turned away, taking a shaky deep breath.

Katsuki relaxed a bit at the sight of her beginning to pull herself back together.

He really wasn't good at this touchy feely stuff. How'd he even get into this conversation in the first place? He'd just wanted to find his classmates and beat up some villains. He hadn't imagined that he'd end up being yelled at by a crying girl from the class next door.

God, what was this morning turning into-

"Get away from her you conniving son of a bitch!"

Without warning a force hit him from the side and he was tackled to the floor. He stared up, momentarily dazed, to see an annoyingly familiar face glaring down at him in anger.

It was Kirishima's copycat, Tetsutetsu.

"What the fuck are you-" He tried out in confusion.  
"Shut the fuck up!" Tetsutetsu snarled, before his fist slammed into the side of Katsuki's face.

His head spun and for just a moment he saw stars. Katsuki let out a vague curse as the boy above him yelled some more. "Haven't you taken enough of us already? Do you have to take her too?"

What was he- Fuck! It was another punch to the face and blinding spots.

Damn. Since when did this guy hit so hard?

"Tetsutetsu, stop!" He heard Kendo yell from behind him. "He's not-"  
"Like hell he's not! His whole class has lost it. Don't you remember that announcement over the PA system? They said 'class 1-A'. This bastard's in class 1-A. He's one of them!"

"I heard that announcement too." Katsuki tried with a groan as he tried to blink away his obstructed vision. The boy above him paused, fist raised mid air, eyes betraying his skepticism. "I was waiting for class to start. I thought they were just going to play some prank. I never could have expected _this_." Tetsutetsu's disbelief didn't lighten. Katsuki just sighed and laid his head back on the floor in exhaustion. "I promise. Look, I just want to find them and figure out what the hell is going on."  
"You're buds have gone insane, that's what!" Tetsutetsu snarled in disgust. "And they've been taking students and teachers! No one's sure why, but they've been dragging them to the-"

"Let me guess: the cafeteria." Katsuki spat out.

Tetsutetsu stared at him for a moment in silence. That was a yes.

Of fucking course. He thought with a groan. They were doing something with the kids.

"How did you know that?" Tetsutetsu asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Before Katsuki could even think of a proper response, a voice carried down the hall in urgency.

"Run! Midnight's sending out a wave! Get to shelter!" They were hollering.

People began to mimic the call, passing it along. Panic was sharply audible in their tones and Katsuki watched as students and villains alike began to rush past him. They were heading towards the mouth of the hallway and the empty classrooms that he and Aizawa had passed on their way here.

"Fuck!" Tetsutetsu exclaimed, his head whipping around in a similar panic. "Again? Already?"

"Get up and let's go!" Kendo exclaimed from behind him. "We can't stay here!"

Tetsutetsu shot her a nod in agreement before turning to Katsuki with a look of indecision. He must have felt rushed because not even a second later he clicked his tongue in irritation and was rising to his feet.

"I really hope that you're not lying." He said begrudgingly as he extended a hand down to help Katsuki to his feet.

"Of course not." Katsuki said with a scowl as he took his outstretched hand. "Who the hell do you take me for?"

All Katsuki could think while Tetsutestu pulled him to his feet was how much his fucking face hurt. The little bitch deserved a good fist to the face in kind, but Katsuki knew that this wasn't the time or place for payback, so that would just have to wait.

"Let's get out of here." Tetsutesu said as he turned away.

As they rushed towards the classrooms with the rest of the crowd, Katsuki became aware of just how many people there were. The hallway was actually getting kind of crowded. He was about to ask the 1-B kids where all of them could have come from, when he turned back towards them and realized that they were gone. Fuck. Had he really just lost the two people who might have helped him?

As he scanned the crowd for them, he realized that the hall had now begun to empty after that one rush of people.

Where was he going to go now?

Maybe he should just duck into a random classroom? -But it was inevtiable that some students there would recognize him and he'd get his ass handed to him by them too. Fuck! He wasn't weak, so why the hell was he getting overpowered so easily today?

A hand suddenly latched onto his shoulder. He spun around, startled and ready to burn off the eyebrows of whoever they might be.

Aizawa's wide eyes stared back at him in surprise. His teacher's expression quickly dissolved into relief.

"Thank god I found you. I thought I'd lost you."  
"Lost me? You fucking ran off!" Katsuki shot back in accusation as he wretched his shoulder from his teacher's grasp. "After all your talk about staying close to you, you just left me and jumped into a fight!"

"Well, I thought that you agreed to follow me." His teacher said in disapproval.

Before Katsuki could respond a deafening voice erupted from the opposite end of the hall, and they both whipped around in surprise.

"Hello dear students! We have arrived to bestow upon you your lovely _rebirth_!"

A very enthused Present Mic exclaimed merrily. He was descending the stairs towards them with this odd chipperness in his demeanor.

The hero looked absolutely psychotic. His usually meticulously styled hair was in disarray, stray blonde wisps falling around his face, and he'd strapped a gas mask to his face. Not to mention that he'd lost his characteristic triangular sunglasses, leaving his exposed eyes to show a grin that was otherwise obscured by his equipment. Almost immediately his gaze snapped to the two of them as they stood in the near emptied hallway.

"Oh! Look who's decided to wander into our little stretch of campus —Not that I didn't already expect that." He said with a cruel glint in his eyes. He held up his phone and dangeled it in front of him. "Thanks for answering Shota. I really couldn't have done this without you." He let loose a deep throated laugh that seemed to echo around them hauntingly. It sent a chill down Katsuki's spine and he watched the blood drain from Aizawa's face as his eyes went wide in horror. Mic tilted his head. "Oh come now, don't look so stunned Shota. It's not that big of a surprise, right? I mean, I must have made so _many_ mistakes. After all, didn't I give myself away when I showed way too much interest in our dearest Kachaan?" Katsuki's eyes had been straying to assess his teacher's response, when he'd caught those last words and snapped back to look at the other hero in rage. Their _what_? What the fuck had he just said? "-Oh, look at that expression! Kachaan did _not_ like that one!" He said with another laugh. Katsuki was seriously considering rocketing himself up there just to punch this man across the face. Fuck the fact that he was a hero, no one got to call him that. No one. "Sorry, sorry, I'll stop." He said, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. "My Midoriya is showing isn't it? HA! Ooops!" He said with another boisterous laugh. "He's currently doing a lot of work up here, you see." He tapped his temple for emphasis. His eyes looked manic as he spoke and Katsuki's stomach turned in revulsion. "He's so excited to see you, you know. Ah, but you better hurry, he's getting so impatient!-"  
His last words had stopped emitting in ultrasound. Shock registered across his face, before he threw his head back and laughed again. "Oh Shota, you're such a riot-"

"Shut up." Aizawa growled. "Shut up!" He exclaimed more loudly. His face was pale with rage and his hair was floating in the air, as it usually did when he used his quirk, but right now it looked twice as menacing. His fists were shaking at his sides. "You're not him. You can't be. Hizashi would never do this." Aizawa said through gritted teeth. "He'd never terrorize his students!"

Present Mic paused where he was at the bottom of the stairs and looked at Aizawa for a moment, tilting his head in consideration; Katsuki realized with dread that he was suddenly only a little over a dozen feet away. "Hmm… Well, _ordinarily_ I wouldn't be in for this sort of thing, but I have to confess that it's all been very _thrilling_. Besides if everyone winds up happy at the end of the day, then I say that there's no harm." He gave a shrug. A vague haze of purple smoke had begun to curl down the steps behind him, and he suddenly perked up. "Oh look who finally decided to show up!" He said, the excitement returning to his voice.

"Yeah well, we could have moved faster if you'd actually helped us!" Another familiar voice said. Their tone was particularly drained and a little sassy, a stark contrast to Mic and his hyper energy.

The purple smoke began to thicken but the owner of the quirk never appeared.

"Aren't you going to come down and greet Shota and Bakugo, Kayama?"  
"Greet them?" There was a sigh. "Yamada, I'm practically naked and Bakugo's a minor." Midnight said in exasperation. "I may not seem like the type, but I have to draw a line _somewhere_."

"Right" Mic said, understanding playing across his face, as he nodded emphatically. "Right."

"Isn't it a little late to be pulling that card, Midnight-Sensei?" A new voice said, it sounded vaguely apathetic.

"I know. But he's different from you, Tokoyami, Bakugo hasn't been turned yet. He doesn't understand _why_."

"Sure." Tokoyami said as he walked into view. "Whatever you say, Sensei." He looked about as detached as ever as he turned towards Katsuki and Aizawa. Dark Shadow moved into view with him, and dragged behind him something big and heavy. As Dark Shadow deposited its load on the raised landing, Katsuki realized with horror that what he'd been carrying was actually at least half a dozen unconscious students. "How're you holding up Bakugo?" Tokoyami asked with a tilt of his head, utterly unconcerned.

Katsuki stared back. Rage simmered in his gut and burned in his throat. He wanted to go right up there and smack his idiot classmate across the face, but he could already tell that he wouldn't make it very far with both Present Mic and Midnight standing nearby -so he settled with yelling at him instead.

"Me? I'm more fucking worried about those students you've been dragging around!" He snarled. "What is wrong with you morons? I mean, letting fucking rabid villains on campus? Kidnapping innocent kids? -And I have so many fucking questions about what the _fuck_ you've done to the fucking teachers!"

"Ouch. Seriously Bakugo?" Mic said, flinching back. "Wasn't that a little much? I mean we have agency, we can make our own decisions-"

"Harsh? You guys are putting your students at risk! Have you seen what those villains have done to Kendo from 1-B? She's so beat up that she can't even protect herself. She was hysterical when she thought that I was one of you. What the fuck did they even do to get her like that?"

"I'm not quite sure what you're talking about." Tokoyami said, cocking his head.

"The villains didn't attack 1-B… Hagakure, Ojiro, and Jiro were in charge of the assault on that class." Katsuki stared at him in wordless horror. Tokoyami seemed to take this as his que to keep talking. "Unfortunately we needed a certain asset from there, so we had to be a bit rough. Kendo was no doubt just trying to do her duty as the class president and she got in the way. That's all. If it would make you feel better. We could heal her —Well, she'd need to come back with us, of course. Maybe you could persuade her-"

"Shut the fuck up! Just listen to yourself! You're talking about attacking other students! What the fuck would make you do that? Why-" His voice caught in his throat and suddenly his eyes were stinging with rage. "What the hell gives you the right to do that to everyone!"

Tokoyami didn't respond, he just watched Katsuki with a curious tilt of his head, instead Mic was the one who seemed to jump to answer.

"It's for peace, Bakugo. Everything we've done is to ensure a never ending peace." Mic said, his tone was relatively calm, but there was an overexcited look in his eyes. "Ah, I can tell that neither of you believe us. Well…" He took a step towards them. "Maybe if we show you directly things will become clearer."

Aizawa suddenly gripped Katsuki's arm, it made him jump in surprise.

"Run!" He hissed out of the side of his mouth, his eyes were trained on his coworker and the closing ground between them. "I'll hold them off. You need to run. Get to the cafeteria. Stop whatever it is they're planning."

"Why the fuck would I-"  
"Just do it Bakugo!" His teacher snapped, eyes shooting to him with a deadly glare. "There's a broken window behind you; jump through and run across the lawn."

Katsuki considered resisting again until his teacher shoved him out of the way and began to unravel his scarf. "Just get out of here already! I don't want to have to worry about you!"  
"No fucking way! I'm-"

"Stop arguing and go!" Aizawa hollered before he disappeared in a flash of movement, only to reappear much closer to Mic and lasso him with his scarf. The other hero let out a blast of sound, which Aizawa dodged. It burrowed harmlessly into the wall opposite him and left a sizable crater in its wake. Aizawa's quirk went into effect, no doubt negating Mic's quirk, as he darted up to him to land a kick to his opponent's torso. Mic blocked and deflected his jab.

Katsuki stared after him in rage. He couldn't just abandon his teacher. He wasn't a coward. He- His eyes had landed on Tokoyami. The other boy was watching him from above with his chilling, calm, eyes. He knew something. What could he possibly-

That's when the realization hit Katsuki full force. Aizawa couldn't win. This was simply a distraction, a last chance for one of them to escape -for _Katsuki_ to escape. Tokoyami knew this and now he did too.

The thought of abandoning his teacher made bile rise in Katsuki's throat. But he swallowed it, and turned towards the window with a scowl. He'd make it out of here and stop his classmates. Aizawa's sacrifice wouldn't be in vain.

He jumped through the broken window and landed gingerly on the soft grass beyond, careful to dodge the unconscious form of the villain who he'd seen Aizawa throw out a good while ago. He didn't want to linger for too long. He harbored the secret fear that Tokoyami might give chase. So, he sprinted across the lawn, turning towards the other end of campus, and followed the side of the building towards the cafeteria. He could only hope that none of his classmates or their friends were patrolling in his path.

He was determined now. He'd end this bullshit once and for all.

A few minutes passed without any encounters, and Katsuki was just starting to relax, when he turned a corner and came across several parked police cars. He almost jumped at the sight of them, but quickly realized that they were empty. He snuck past them and kept an eye out for the missing police officers. He wasn't as worried about what they themselves would do, but more about what had drawn them away from their vehicles.

His last obstacle was approaching, a pair of doors in an open courtyard. From there it would just be one last stretch of hallway and then the cafeteria doors themselves, then he'd be at his destination. He was so close, and yet as he came up to the last corner to turn into the courtyard, his heart fell. There was an odd sound coming from just around the corner. He realized with a shudder that it was the rhythmic crunch of flesh and bone. Someone was definitely there.

He could barely make out a voice. They gave a sigh and clapped their hands, as something fell to the floor with an audible thud.

"Great! That looks like the last one!" A rather chipper voice reported to seemingly no one. There was a pause and a sigh. "Bakugo must be running a little late." They said, disappointment lacing their voice. "Hurry up man, I'm already getting bored!" They growled out to the void.

Katsuki went rigid. That voice- it was- but it couldn't be- he'd never!

This was the only classmate that he hadn't wanted to run into.

Fuck.

Fuck!

FUCK!

"Fuck." He whispered without thinking.

"... Bakugo?" The voice said, hope alighting in their tone. There was the crunch of approaching feet on grass.

Shit! Shit! Shit! He had to run. To fight. To-

Red spiky hair peeked from around the corner, wide eyes and a toothy grin followed.

**Kirishima.**

* * *

A/N:

Ok, so I know that this has taken me forever and a day to get out, but I just had a lot to play around with for this chapter.  
Bakugo, for one, was a really hard to decision to make. I kept wanting to write him as the impulsive fireball that we know him as in cannon, but the plot kept getting derailed by his antics. So I kinda had to reign him in here and keep him relatively subdued. Sorry to disappoint, I know that it would have been so satisfying to see him just beating the shit out of everyone as the world goes to hell around him. I'm trying to work more of that into my next chapter.  
(BTW. If anyone has advice on how to properly control explosive characters, I would greatly appreciate it. I love our explodo kills boy, but I cant write him for shit. (T-T))  
Also, insanity is going to be a big thing for the next chapter. So, if thats your thing, look forward to it. If not, please brace yourself, its very invasive. Take care of yourself please.  
Alright, thats it for now. I'll see you all again soon.

Much love 3


	5. Chapter 5

Katsuki watched with dread as his only friend stepped into view.

"Hey man, what are you hiding back here for?" Kirishima asked, beaming down at Katsuki with a light laugh.

This had to be a joke -a sick twisted _joke _. He couldn't be here, not like this. Not grinning at him with those eyes. Not smiling with that macabre imitation of his familiar ray of sunshine. Not greeting him as if this were perfectly normal— as if he weren't covered in all of that blood.

Kirishima was looking for a response, but Katsuki couldn't give one. His voice was too busy lodging itself in his throat and rolling in horror at the sight of this _monstrosity _.

"What 'you looking at-" Kirishima followed Katsuki's gaze down and his eyes widened in realization. "Oh, yeah. _This _?" He said, splaying his bloodstained hands with a gentle shrug. "You know, it's not that big 'a deal."

Not that big a deal? The fucking _psychopath _was covered head to toe in buckets of fresh blood.

It was still wet and glistened in the light, its texture somewhere between wine and watery paint. It was on his face, his uniform, his shoes. He was soaked up to the elbows in it. His hands were caked over with it. There was so much fucking blood— Oh god, this had come from people! Real people!

Oh, fuck! The policemen!

Katsuki stumbled past his classmate, eyes fixated on what was just inside the courtyard. Bodies, at least a dozen of them, were scattered across the ground, discarded on benches, or thrown against the walls and the bases of the tree's that stood at either side of an open walkway.

The wind rustled the leaves overhead, their shifting shadows lending the only sign of life to the scene.

"They're still breathing -I think." Kirishima said as he walked up beside Katsuki, surveying his work with a sheepish smile.

He thought? He _thought _?

Katsuki darted over to the nearest victim. His face had been badly bashed in and he was swollen and bloody. God, Katsuki could have sworn that he saw whole patches where the flesh had been torn straight off the bone, but he didn't give himself much time to evaluate whether that was a trick of the light or his worst fear realized. His greatest concern remained with the life of this man. If he was still clinging to life, then his wounds could be assessed by a professional, if not… He didn't want to think about that.

Katsuki breathed a sigh of relief when warm air brushed weakly from the man's lips and against his hand. Thank god. His friend hadn't become a murderer, not yet. But his relief was short-lived.

"Why the fuck would you do this?" Katsuki snarled, turning back to glare at his clearly deranged classmate. "Really! What could these officers have fucking done to justify you beating them within a fucking _inch _of their lives?"

Kirishima stared at him for a moment from the mouth of the courtyard, taking in Katsuki as he sat crouched down next to one of his victims and glared up at him. Katsuki watched in horror as the boy just cocked his head and stated with an almost guiltless smile and a shrug: "Well… They wanted to get into the cafeteria."

Katsuki rose to his feet, anger burning through him in a righteous fury. "Yeah? Thats fucking all, huh? Well, what if I wanted to get into the fucking cafeteria!" Katsuki roared as he marched up to his deranged classmate. "What would you do then? Huh? You going to kill me too-"

"We'd let you in." Kirishima interrupted, his eyes jarringly earnest.

"_ What _?" Katsuki, felt like he'd just been slapped. "What the fuck do you mean 'you'd let me in'? Why would you-"

"Because we want you to, Bakugo." Kirishima's smile had grown, twisting into something manic. "We want _you _to join us."

Katsuki stared at him for a moment in a mixture of disgust and horror. This couldn't be Kirishima. That grin. That _look _in his eyes.

"What the hell happened to you?" He spat out in revulsion.

Kirishima's smile fell a few inches and some mix of confusion and hurt flashed in his eyes. "I haven't changed, Bakugo. I'm still the same person that I've always been…" Katsuki just glared back. Like hell he was. Kirishima would have never looked at anyone like that. He would have never even considered beating anyone near death. This person, this _not _Kirishima, bit his lip in worry. "Look, I don't want to fight you man. I didn't want to hurt these policemen either, but they got in the way… Look if you don't believe me. There's the door. I'm not going to stop you. If you want to, feel free to go in there and mess up _literally _everything… I won't stop you."  
"Bullshit!"  
"No really! I won't stand in your way." Kirishima said, biting his lip nervously. He tried a little reassuring smile before it withered on his lips and he looked away. "I… I'll even walk back this way so that you know that I won't do anything." Kirishima said, pointing over his shoulder, back at the way that Katsuki himself had come from. For a moment he paused, eyes searching Katsuki's, looking for some form of pardon. When he saw none he just sighed and turned to leave. "Bye, Bakugo. Have fun with whatever you decide to do. Just… be careful. "

Katsuki watched him walk away with a scowl on his lips. What the hell had that just been? This psychopath, was so insistent to prove to him his identity that he'd been willing to abandon his guard duty; or whatever the fuck this was. Katsuki bit his lip and glared after the boy with the spiky red hair. Between what he'd seen of Tokoyami and Kirishima, he didn't think that he'd ever be able to understand what truly went on in their heads.

Yet, as this Kirishima lookalike sulked away Katsuki couldn't help but think that, somehow, he looked like a kicked puppy -like a _bloodsoaked _kicked puppy who had just nearly _murdered _a dozen police officers.

Katsuki waited until he was gone from view before cautiously turning towards the cafeteria building. As Katsuki picked his way gingerly across the courtyard, careful to step around the splayed limbs of that monster's victims, one thought pricked across his mind.

This was too fucking easy.

Why was Kirishima even letting him into the cafeteria without any sort of fight, when he'd obviously pummeled these officers for less? Hadn't he mentioned that they _wanted _him to go into the building? Was this all part of some twisted plan of theirs? But if it was, what was he supposed to do then? Just leave those missing students to rot?

No way. Katsuki thought as he came up to the doors. He _was _going to do this.

He shot one last look at the officers, a guilty thought passing through his mind. He couldn't just leave them here. They might die before help arrived for them. But he couldn't stay. More of the psychopathic freaks would be coming. All he could do was send out a silent promise to call them an ambulance as soon as he got the chance.

As he turned back to the tinted doors, he scowled down at the handels, blood pumping in anticipation.

He'd set this right. All of this.

He pushed down on the handles and the doors swung open smoothly under his grasp.

It was surprisingly anticlimactic. He'd half expected something to jump out at him.

All that lay before him was a stretch of empty hall, and then the last pair of doors into the cafeteria.

Well, 'empty' in quotes.

As Katsuki stepped inside, his eyes adjusted and registered movement.

Leaning against the doors opposite him, stood one of his least favorite people.

His hands were tucked behind his back and he was rocking back and forth in poorly contained excitement. The doors shut behind Katsuki with a click and the boy across him looked up at the sound. A smile tore across his face in recognition.

"Kachaan!"

Katsuki almost couldn't believe his eyes.

Izuku stood across from him with the biggest grin he'd ever seen, as if this were the greatest moment of his life. It was creepy. It was wrong. It was so not _Deku. _—No. He didn't have time to analyze. He couldn't afford to give Izuku even a moment to use his quirk. If anything had become evident with Kirishima and Tokoyami, these guys were cruel beyond measure and he couldn't afford to give Izuku even an inch to get comfortable with.

Katsuki shot himself across the hall, closing the distance between them in a near instant. He lifted his leg in a swing at his childhood friend's head. Izuku barreled out of the way with an exclamation.

"Wait, Kachaan!"

Wait? No way you fucker!

Katsuki instead set off a chain of explosions to Izuku's chest. The other boy backed out of the way in a quick backpedal, holding up his hands in a show of surrender.

He was dodging Katsuki's assault infuriatingly easily.

"I-I don't want to fight!"

"Yeah? Well I do!" Katsuki roared, as he lunged in with another series of explosions. "You pieces of crap aren't getting away with your bullshit! This ends here!"

There was a flicker of green lightning on his skin as Izuku jumped back, putting just a bit of distance between them.

"Kachaan, please just _listen _to me for a minute!"

"Oh please, I'm not interested in hearing about your weird salvation bullshit!" Katsuki snarled, advancing again and resuming his barrage. He managed a few more explosions before he was stopped.

Suddenly there was a gloved hand on his wrist and Katsuki couldn't pull away. Izuku's green eyes burned into him with a fierce determination.

"I'm done playing around with you Kachaan."

"Yeah well I'm not-"  
"I know." He interrupted in frustration, before his tone softened and his expression melted into a sympathetic smile. "But, look, it's been a long day. You've been through a lot… and you're finally here. You can stop fighting now."

Katsuki glared at him in agitation. "What kind of bullshit are you spewing?" He snarled.

"Come on Kachaan. Don't you want to be happy?" Izuku asked with an innocent tilt of his head.  
"Oh, fuck off!" He said with a roll of his eyes.

"That's all we want. That's our only goal. -We just want to be happy. Is that such a horrible thing?"  
"And how is 'being happy' related to this mess? I mean attacking our school? Kidnapping students? Almost killing anyone who comes to help? You're all full of shit! " Katsuki spat out.

"Well, we want you all to be happy too." Izuku insisted, leaning in a bit, his soft smile was somehow at once pleading and manic.  
Katsuki leaned in too, his eyes sharp with disgust. They were practically nose to nose when he growled out three words."You are _psychotic _." Izuku's elated smile dropped an inch and Katsuki knew that he'd hit home. "Now let go of me!"

Izuku loosened his hold and Katsuki snatched his hand back with a scowl.

The other boy sighed and eyed Katsuki with a particularly sad look in his eyes. "I really tried, Kachaan." He tilted his head and looked away guiltily. "I- Just… don't blame me when things get a little rough." His hands reached to peel off one of his gloves as he spoke, eyes held away from Katuski's face. "You've brought this upon yourself-"

In a flash the cafeteria doors were thrown open behind him and a wave of students surged forth, parting around him before quickly reaching out to tackle Katsuki to the floor.

He was stunned, by the sudden movement as he was thrown on his back. As soon as he'd realized what had happened, his arms and legs were already being pinned down by dozens of hands.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Katsuki roared, eyes running along the unfamiliar faces in outrage. Each of his attacker's faces were filled with the same horrible smile and expression of absolute glee. "Get the fuck off of me!"

He moved to kick and shake himself free, but the psychotic bastards held him. He tried squirming and contorting for leverage, but even after blasting them with a dozen rounds of minor explosions his manic captors hadn't even flinched. All Katsuki could do was glare at them all as he bit out labored breaths.

Izuku looked down at him with a warm smile. His discarded gloves fell from his hands as he knelt down.

"Don't worry Kachaan, you'll just be uncomfortable for a moment. Then you'll understand everything." His smile twisted into a too wide grin and his eyes narrowed in some perverse joy. "You can finally be happy."

He began to crawl forwards, arms and legs placed on either side of him. Katsuki tried to shrink away in disgust, but the hands held him tight.

"Fuck off! You're all insane!" He roared, thrashing against them desperately. "You can all go to fucking hell!"

"Shhh, Kachaan. Calm down." Izuku said, still smiling as he reached up to Kastuki's face and cupped his cheek in his hand, "It'll really only take a second, then everything will be ok. Just trust me." His thumb began running circles along his jaw in a supposedly comforting manner, but Katsuki really just wished that he could projectile vomit into the creep's face.

"Don't touch me, you psychotic son of a bitch!" Katsuki snarled as he tried to rip his head out of his grasp, but the jackass somehow held even that in place.

"Oh, I wish I could Kachaan, but I just can't let you move freely yet. Please, endure this for now and then everything will make sense, I swear." He was bringing his free hand over Katsuki's face. "Now, just try to close your eyes and relax."

Katsuki's panic doubled as Izuku's hand landed on his skin and reduced his view to darkness. What was this freak going to do? What was he hoping to accomplish? What had he even done to these students? Was he going to do the same to him? Was that how he was going to end up, a grinning, mindless, puppet?

No! He had to escape! He thrashed and pulled, to no avail. He was only left with his last resort —Fuck it if the kids holding him got a little singed! They'd attacked him and he was on his last _fucking _straw!— so he let off the biggest rounds he could. The booming sound rang in his ears, and the poignant smell of his burning sweat stung his nose, he could even feel the skin on his palms prickle and sting from the heat, and yet the pressure on his arms and wrists didn't abate.

No! No! No! He refused to become some mindless puppet! He refused this -all of this. He tried to thrash again, but his body was heavy now and it no longer responded as he wanted it to. Hell, he found that all he could manage was barely a twitch in his fingers.

"Fuck off you…" His eyelids were suddenly growing heavier and his thoughts were slipping. "y-you piece of… shit."

Those were Katsuki's last words before everything melted to black.

It was dark, lonely, and empty. For a few painful beats there was nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Katsuki was just floating in a cold empty void.

Then there was a spark. A beautiful, warm, safe, glimmer of light. It burst to life as a blaze in his chest and it was spreading like wildfire through his veins. With each heavy thud of his heart it was propelled further and faster, consuming him in a rush of emotions and information.

Joy, excitement, _understanding _.

This was a chaos of warmth and comfort that it spread before him as a beautiful network. Voices flooded him, entrancing him in their wondrous melody of information, thoughts, and experiences.

To every voice there was a face, a life, a spark, a person. Everyone they'd taken, this was where they'd gone. His classmates, his friends, his teachers. He understood them all.

They were his friends, his _family _.

And for the first time in his life Katsuki felt happy, truly and completely happy. There was no one to whisper behind his back or comment on his behaviour. No one to frown at his inadequacies. He felt loved and loved everyone else in equal measure.

For just this moment everything was perfect.

Then he glimpsed the world. Horrible. Lonely. _Confused _.

Filled with spite, greed, and fear.

This was the cure. Yes. This was the solution to all of mankind's ills.

It was their duty to deliver this wonder to the world.

Of course, the idea wouldn't be easy to swallow for the rest of them, after all change was always scary, but his family would use force if they needed to. No one would be spared their enlightenment.

Nothing else mattered anymore.

It was wonderful.

It was everything.

It was-

It was gone. Somehow his connection had been ripped from him and that wondrous bliss was suddenly slipping through his fingers at an alarming pace. All of their voices were dimming. No.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no!

He wanted them _-needed _them back.

Their voices had been reduced to a dull whisper, but Katsuki quickly recognized their panic and their anger. Something had obviously gone wrong.

Evidently they'd been attacked, but the rest of the information was trickling in at an infuriatingly slow pace. -Heroes! It had been the heroes.

Not the main force of them, of course, those were still being entertained elsewhere. But the ones on campus had flocked to the cafeteria with the remaining police officers, broken through the wall, and were now spilling into their hallway like a swarm of ants. A pit of dread and anger formed in his stomach when he came to a bitter realization. Not only had they invaded their sanctuary, but the fucking assholes had taken Izuku. The first one had charged off with him into the cafeteria.

He couldn't afford to sit here while Izuku was in danger. He had to get him back.

Katsuki's eyes flew open, and rage and need drove him to his feet. There was no need to pause and asses, he already had his target. —Not to mention that the endearing dork was broadcasting to him with an unmistakable urgency, but his connection to them had weakened to such a state where he couldn't piece the words themselves.

Katsuki didn't think, he just began blasting himself across the new battlefield; dodging obstacles, fallen brothers or sisters, and the few heroes who tried to halt him. He was vaguely aware of his compatriots snapping the heroes attention away and clearing him a path as he charged forwards in a blind fury.

He hadn't realized how far he'd gone until he reached the far wall of the cafeteria. There were fewer scuffles here, and he immediately zeroed in on his target.

Someone was there, pinning Izuku against a wall of glass panelling.

They were in the way; one big muscular barrier with a stretched shirt that was almost four sizes too small and unmistakable blond hair. Katsuki hated him. Hated him for tearing away his IV drip of happiness. Hated him for hurting Deku. He hated All Might. -Wait a minute. All Might?

Katsuki snapped to a stop less than a foot away, eyes wide as he properly assessed the scene.

The hero was hunched over the little green haired boy, caging him in his burly arms and pleading desperately.

"Midoriya, please! Just look at me! Tell me what is going on?" All Might demanded, his voice choked into a cough as blood splattered from his lips and across the glass behind Izuku. "Please… I just need to know what the hell is going on! Just talk to me! Why you all are doing this!-"

"Kachaan!" Izuku exclaimed in recognition, a bright smile tearing across his face at the sight of him. All Might's shoulders stiffened and he slowly looked over his shoulder, dread evident in his pale face. Katsuki stared back, immoble. "Kachaan?" Izuku asked at his hesitation.

Katsuki looked between them, mind locked in indecision.

He'd charged here with the intention of saving Izuku, of helping him succeed, and having him return him to that paradise. But now, given a moment, opposing thoughts rose to incite conflict in his fuzzy little brain.

He still wanted to save Izuku. To make sure he was safe. He wanted to go back, to drown in that wondrous connection. Izuku could give him that. And to do that, he'd have to defeat All Might. The retired hero was visibly weak, it wouldn't be hard to knock him out if he tried.

Yet some small part of him protested all of this. He didn't want to free Izuku. He didn't want to hurt his teacher. He didn't want to go back. It was scary. It was revolting. The thought of submitting to that thing again stirred his stomach.

But he couldn't quite tell if that was nausea or butterflies.

And so he stood there, mind running in circles, the doubt growing stronger and stronger.

Izuku's smile dropped and panic played in his eyes. "Kachaan? -Oh god, no! Please! Kachaan, I'm right here!" He cried out, as he scrambled against his hero's grip with tears in his eyes. Katsuki could see -could still _feel _his desperation as his friend called out to him. _He couldn't lose him. Not now. Not after they'd come so close! _"You don't have to leave! We can still make this right! You can still come home!" He'd resteled a hand out from under All Might's arm and was now extending it to Katsuki. "Please. Kachaan. Please!" He pleaded.

Katsuki wanted to take it. He really did. His ears rang in the silence and there was this inconsolable void in his chest. His thoughts were at constant war with each other, such that it hurt just to stand there and make a simple fucking decision. He hated it. He wanted that calm back, that certainty. He wanted to be happy.

That last thought sent a pang through his chest and it drove him to move forward an inch. -But it was just that inch before he paused again. The image of Kirishima drenched in blood and smiling flashed through his mind. Some part of him found it endearing.

Fuck. Endearing? Really? He'd nearly _murdered _twelve fucking people! That wasn't nice, it wasn't cute, it wasn't him being a loyal friend, that was him being a goddamn psychopath. The worst part was that Kirishima wasn't alone, every single one of them was like that. For fuck's sake, he himself had been a breath away from winding up just as fucked up!

No. There was absolutely no justification for what Kirishima had done to those police officers. There was no justification for anything happening here. Forcing students, teachers, and heroes into their weird hive mind… that was fucking insanity! Why had he ever thought that this was right? Why had he ever wanted this?

It was absolutely nauseating. Only five minutes ago Katsuki had been content to watch the world burn below his heel. He'd wanted it all to burn and be reborn. He'd enjoyed the thought of it. He'd relished in the idea of bending the rest of the world in the same way. —Izuku had made him want that. Made him fucking _enjoy _going fucking _insane _.

"Kachaan! No! Please don't go!" Izuku cried out desperately. "Please! I'm right here! You don't have to be alone!"

He was right, Katsuki didn't have to be alone.

God, he hated being alone. He hated how empty he felt. He wanted that solace of belonging. But he didn't at the same time. He loathed them, wanted to hate them with everything that he had -and yet he couldn't do that either.

Perhaps it was because, in some deep, inconsolable corner of himself, they were still family. He still wanted them.

That just pissed him off more.

"Just shut the fuck up, Deku! You've fucking lost it!" He snarled.

"Kachaan, please." Izuku pleaded, the tears spilling from his eyes. Katsuki glared daggers at him and the boy wilted back. It was clear that he'd received the message. Yet Izuku wouldn't give up. "D-Don't worry. We'll get you back! I promise. You won't have to suffer anymore-"

"I said shut up!" Katsuki roared, and Izuku tensed at his tone. An involuntary shudder of regret ran down Katsuki's spine. He pursed his lips and looked away. "There's no way in hell that I'm letting you do that _thing _to me again."

Izuku was frozen as the tears spilled down his cheeks, wide green eyes full of loss. "Please. We just want you to be _happy _."

"And what part of being trapped and forced into your weird culty hive mind bullshit is supposed to make me 'happy'?" He growled back.

"But you were happy. You were _so _happy… even if it was only for a few seconds."

"But it was fake! All of that was fake. You were just fucking with my emotions. You made me want to fucking destroy the world with you."

"Not destroy -_ fix _!"  
"What… What are you two going on about?" All Might asked, his wide eyes darting between them in astonishment. "Midoriya what is this about destroying the world? Why in the world would that make you happy?"

Izuku's face lit up, as if someone had flipped a switch, and he looked up at his hero with a beaming smile. "Oh no. You've got us all wrong All Might! We don't really want to destroy anything. We want to _fix _this world. We just want everyone everywhere to be happy. We'll end all wars, all conflicts and inequalities. No one will have to hurt ever again. —I know that that might sound kind of far fetched based on just what you've seen today. But this isn't our end goal. It's just that… Well, a lot of people will find our existence unsettling. That's kind of inevitable-"

"-after all, change has always been scary." Katsuki cut in, finishing his sentence for him with a roll of his eyes. "Yeah. You don't need to give him the whole recruitment spiel! It's all a load of bullshit anyways!"

"Kachaan." Izuku said with a frown, his eyebrows knit together in worry.

"Oh come on, Deku. Just fucking listen to yourself. You know it's all a load of crap!"

"It's not, and _you _know that it's _not _."

He was about to growl back a reply when All Might hacked out another cough, this time doubling over in pain and leaning against the glass. An alarming amount of blood was dribbling from his lips and splattering onto the tile floors.

Both Izuku and Katsuki looked between each other to their teacher in panic.

"All Might! Put me down!" Izuku demanded, kicking and pulling against his grasp. "Don't try to hold onto this form! It's not worth it!"  
"No." The man croaked, holding him all the tighter. "I'm not going to let you hurt anyone else."

"All Might, let him go! I'll stop him if he tries anything." Katsuki insisted, furrowing his brow. "Really! It's not worth fucking _killing _yourself over!"

The man just shook his head and clutched Izuku tighter. "You don't understand the kind of destruction that he's capable of."

"I do actually. Just as much as he does!"  
Izuku eyed him for a moment, before nodding down at his hero. "Please. Let me go." He tried more softly. "I promise you. I won't hurt anyone else today."

All Might looked up for a moment, his skin was deathly pale and his eyes were glistening with tears —Fuck. Katsuki'd never thought that he'd see the day when All Might cried.— He barely managed to utter a groan before his eyes suddenly rolled back into his head, his arms unfastened from around Izuku, and he crumpled backwards.

Katsuki darted forwards to catch the sudden twig of a man just a second before he hit the floor. In his arms, All Might gave a body racking cough and blood bubbled from his lips.

Fuck. Fuck! FUCK! His teacher was going to fucking die here. No. He couldn't allow that. There had to be something they could do— The fucking psychopaths had someone! He vaguely remembered her from his blurry two minutes under.

"Where's Recovery Girl?" He snapped over at Izuku.

"Already on her way. We had to get crafty with a delivery method." He said as he knelt down next to Katsuki and eyed his teacher in concern. Izuku began tilting the hero's head to the side, and Katsuki flinched at the sight of his bare fingers on his skin. Izuku just glanced at him with a roll of his eyes. "Calm down. I'm not going to try anything with him."  
"Then what the hell are you doing?" Katsuki hissed out.

"I'm making sure that he doesn't choke or drown on his blood. -Didn't you pay attention during Midnight's first-aid seminar?" Katsuki glared at him and Izuku just shrugged. "Don't worry, I don't remember much about it either, but both she and Recovery Girl are walking me through it. So I'm pretty confident about my application."  
"No CPR?" Katsuki asked, eyeing his teacher's irregular wheezing in suspicion.

"No. I don't think that CPR is going to help him-"

"What the hell have you two done?" A voice erupted from behind them.

They both spun around to find Aizawa standing there, eyes wide in horror. Katsuki knew what it must have looked like, the two of them chatting over All Might's frail form, unconscious, and badly hurt. Whatever Aizawa understood to be happening, there was no way that Katsuki was letting him get the first word, not while he was stuck squating here and unable to protect himself.

"Take him." Katsuki said, dumping All Might into Izuku's arms and rising to his feet.

"Bakugo…" Aizawa said wearily, reaching for his scarf.

"I don't want to fight." Katsuki said, holding up his hands as he stepped forwards.

Aizawa's lips hardened into a disapproving frown, and Katsuki realized his mistake too late. "Right. That's what _all _of you sick fucks have been saying today."

"Oh for fuck's sake! I'm not one of them!" Katsuki exclaimed.

"Kachaan, please don't say that-"  
"Shut up Deku! Now's not the time for your bullshit!" He snarled over his shoulder.

"So what? You want me to believe that you're just _cooperating _with them?" Aizawa glared at Katsuki in accusation, grip tightening on the scarf in his hands. "Forgive me if I find that hard to believe. —Especially given that you've both attacked your teacher, and appear to be a lot more _familiar _than you should be."

"Familiar?" Katsuki said with a frown. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"The Katsuki Bakugo that I spoke to just thirty minutes ago would have never turned his back to one of these twisted psychopaths." He bit out.

Katsuki just stared at him for a minute, stunned to silence. He wasn't wrong. He should have been a lot more uncomfortable with having his previous tormentor hovering just behind him.

"So, are you just expecting him to admit to being a '_ twisted psychopath _', Aizawa Sensei?" Izuku said pointedly, stepping up beside Katsuki. He was glaring at his teacher, looking oddly sinister with All Might dangled from his arms like a limp ragdoll. "Then, sure. Kachaan is one of ours. Are you happy now? -Ow! " He exclaimed, gaze jumping to Katsuki in surprise. He was pinching his arm, eyes venomous. "Kachaan! Stop! What are you going to do if I drop All Might?"

"Then use your fucking quirk, you dork!" He snapped, letting go of his skin. "And don't fucking speak for me. I'm not one of your happy little psychos."

"Stop calling us psychos!" Izuku pouted.

"Oh please, you guys haven't hesitated to beat up anyone even _once _—You're psychos!"

"Would you two _please _stop yelling." All Might croaked weakly, a few flecks of blood splattered across his lips when he gave a feeble cough.

"**All Might!**" The two of them exclaimed at once.

"You're alive!" Izuku added with a smile of relief. "Don't worry. Help is coming. They'll be here soon, I promise!"

"Help?" Aizawa asked incredulously. "You're the ones who did that to him."

"Oh fuck off." Katsuki said, rolling his eyes again.

"Really! We didn't hurt him! I swear!" Izuku instisted. Despite his words Aizawa continued to eye them incredulously. "Look, he did this to himself. He insisted on being the one to keep me from hurting people. But being in the All Might form really seemed to be hurting him, and eventually he collapsed."

"I even offered to restrain this insane piece of shit in his place. But he didn't seem to think that I could be trusted." Katsuki added, biting his lip guilty.  
"I agree with that sentiment." Aizawa growled out, extending a hand insistently. "Now, why don't you just give him to me, and I'll make sure that he gets medical attention."  
"No!" Izuku exclaimed, holding the hero closer to his chest. "You can't have him."

"As much as I hate the idea of accepting their help." Katsuki said with a scowl at his twisted childhood friend. "They have Recovery Girl. She knows All Might's condition better than anyone. She'll be able to actually help him. -Even if we called the paramedics now, they wouldn't be able to start working on him for another twenty minutes. We don't have a choice Aizawa… We need them."

"Kachaan." Izuku said, a hopeful smile on his lips.

"I'm not praising you and I'm certainly not saying that I like you, just that we need your help right now." Katsuki clarified with a roll of his eyes.

"But still-" Izuku suddenly paused mid sentence and turned to look out the wall of windows behind them. His smile widened in recognition and a sigh of relief escaped his lips. "Took them long enough."

Katsuki watched the same scene of empty lawn in confusion. There was nothing there. Then he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, and not a second later someone carrened around the corner of the building in a blur of motion.

As they turned to charge straight towards them, Katsuki got a good look at them. Iida stared back at him, eyebrows furrowed in determination as he ran full speed towards them. In his arms was the little woman who they'd called for, Recovery Girl. He wasn't slowing as he approached the glass, and Katsuki realized with horror exactly what he planned to do.

He looked to Izuku for a reaction but the fool was still smiling, clearly unfazed by the prospect of what was about to happen. He turned to Aizawa, the panic in his chest erupting in a single cry. "Get down!"

Aizawa looked between all of them in confusion. He didn't understand.

Katsuki tackled him to the floor just as the windows behind him erupted in a shower of glass.

It fell across his back weakly.

There was a crunch of feet on glass as Izuku's voice chirped happily from just behind him.

"You're here!"

"Yeah." Iida said. "Sorry it took us so long."  
"No, don't worry about it."  
"Quit yapping and bring that idiot over here!" Recovery Girl snapped.

"Ah, right. Sorry about that." Izuku said sheepishly.

There was the crunch of more glass underfoot as Katsuki pulled himself into a sitting position. Aizawa glowered up at him.

"Get off of me." He said coldly.

"Fine." Katsuki grumbled as he rose to his feet.

He extended a hand down to help his teacher up. The man hesitated for a moment before taking it and allowing Katsuki to pull him up.

"You promise me that you aren't one of them?" Aizawa said, his expression grim as he stood up. He was eyeing the huddle of psychopaths opposite them.

Katsuki bit his lip. He wasn't. Right?

"Yeah." He said with a nodd.

"Good, because we can't let them take All Might."

Katsuki took a deep breath. "Right, so what do you want to do?"

"We should just try to subdue them and, as soon as he's healed, take All Might from their hands. I don't want him to stay near them longer than he has to. I'm afraid that they might do something to him."

Recovery Girl was leaning over All Might, who was still cradled helplessly in Izuku's arms, and inspecting him tenderly. Iida's eyes, meanwhile, were shifting to focus on the two of them, tilting his head with curiosity in his eyes. Katsuki gave an involuntary shudder under his gaze. It was so familiar, and yet he was struck with terror when a little bubbling of glee clawed its way up his throat. How could something so simple stir up something so revolting?

"How much do you know about them?" Katsuki asked, trying to distract himself.

His teacher heaved a great sigh, as if this was something unbearably heavy. Katsuki considered rescinding his question, but before he could do so Aizawa had already begun to answer.

"It's hard to say, since I can only guess based on what I've seen; but they seem warped. Even though they look and talk like themselves, they're… different. They're obsessive and cruel. They don't care who they hurt." His fists shook in rage. "What the fuck even happened to them?"  
Katsuki pursed his lips. Naturally, he had an answer, but how much should he say?

"I don't know… but they need physical contact to do it." He said wearily, eyes trained on the crew as they treated his teacher.

"What?" Aizawa hissed in surprise. "How do you know that?"

"I, uh, saw them tackle someone when I was… fighting my way back here. When they both got up, the kid who'd been tackled, he was grinning and then he tried to attack me too." He lied fitfully, "I, uh, I don't remember that much. It was all kind of a blurr."

"Ok…" Aizawa said thoughtfully, obviously trying to process that. "So they need to touch people to do whatever they do to them…"

Katsuki nodded stiffly, eyes straying towards the very sort of people they'd just been discussing. He watched anxiously as Recovery Girl planted her kiss on All Might and the man was partially restored; he was still pale and his eyes fluttered open only weakly. They were running out of time. If the hive-mind wanted to take All Might, it would be now.

"Aizawa-"  
"I know, I saw it too! You take Iida, I'll handle Izuku. If you can, try to get Recovery Girl away from All Might."

"Got it." He said with a nodd.

Aizawa turned towards Izuku and darted off in a flash. Again.

Katsuki stared after him for a second. His eyes were glued on Izuku as he turned around, eyes going wide as they registered the approaching threat. All Might was still laying in his lap, so he couldn't move yet. He quickly tried to transfer All Might to Recovery Girl's arms in a frantic motion, just as the end of the white scarf wrapped around his upper arm, tearing Izuku away from her and the clutzily caught All Might.

Katsuki tore his gaze away to see an astonished Iida crouch down in preparation to dash forwards.

No. He couldn't allow him to interfere.

"Iida! Don't you dare get in the way!" Katsuki roared as he shot himself through the air. "I'll be the one you're fighting!"

Iida's eyes went wide, his lips quickly twisting with spite.

"That suits me just fine!"

Iida ducked out of the way as Katsuki swiped out with a kick. He tried to make use of the movement to aim an explosion to the other boy's shoulder, but Iida caught his hand and tossed him aside. Katsuki skidded onto the ground with a glare. Iida smirked down at him as he revved his engines and darted forwards, launching his own kick in a vertical arc. It was predictable, as if Katsuki had studied him for years. He simply rolled aside as Iida brought his heel back down, chipping the tile under the impact. Now it was Katsuki's turn to go on the offensive again, charging an explosion between his hands as he stood and firing it upon his classmate. A violent wave of light and heat spilled from his hands. Iida simply flipped himself into the air, right over the beam, and tried to return a sweeping kick on the way down.

They danced around each other like this, dodging, parrying, and attacking but hitting mostly air. "Don't you feel any remorse!" Iida roared amongst this flurry.

Remorse? "What for?" Katsuki shot back.

"Oh please, don't play dumb with me. You joined us, you understood us, and now you're using that against us!"

Was that what he was doing? Iida's movements _were _much easier to read, now that he thought about it.

"Don't peg that on me. You shits are the ones who wanted me so bad in the first place." He snarled back with a grin.

"Yes, but we wanted _you _." Iida snapped, indignant. "Not this weird shadow of you!"  
A shadow? Was that really what he looked like to them? -No, he was sure that that was right; because it was the same for him. They appeared at the peripherals of his mind as a vague silhouette of people. They were a presence but not much else.

"Well sorry for exercising my free will! It seems to me that you psycho's are lacking some of that!"

"Bakugo! You insolent vagrant!" Iida said, emphasizing his exclamation with another kick. This one passed just an inch from Katsuki's face and the air rushed across his skin like an invisible whip. He reeled back, trying to keep his balance by setting off a couple of explosions behind him. When he'd straightened himself again, it was to find Iida panting across from him. "We just wanted for all of us to be able to live happily together! Is that so repulsive to you Bakugo?" He spat in accusation between labored breaths.

"Oh fuck off-"

"No! -We _care _about you, Bakugo. We just want our family to be whole. Now there's a void: _You _." His voice choked with emotion. "Why do you keep insisting on fighting against us? Why can't just be happy together?"

Katsuki stared at him for a moment in astonishment, this was surprisingly out of character for him. Iida had never really seemed the type to get emotional over anything. He'd always been calm and logical. It tugged at Katsuki's heart a little. Still… Katsuki's expressions settled decidedly into bitter resentment, glaring icily at his class president. "Oh I don't know, maybe it's the fact that you've all turned into murderous fanatics? Maybe I just don't want to join your psychotic crusade against _all _of humanity?"

"Bakugo, this world is toxic! It needs to be corrected. We have the power to do that, _together _… "

"Yeah? Well fuck your correcting the world bullshit. I'm not going to let you hurt innocent people and warp thousands of minds."

Iida bit his lip and straighetend, the desperation and heartbreak draining from him. "That's too bad, Bakugo." He said, frowning and shaking his head as he sighed in exasperation, "Why can't you ever just listen to reason? This is why we always have to resort to this with you. -It's really a shame."

"What the fuck are you-" Katsuki was interrupted by a shudder of trepidation running down his spine, the hairs at the base of his neck rising to stand on end. Before he could make sense of this premonition, there was a crash from above and something broke through the skylight. Katsuki gazed upwards, but all he caught was the sight of a figure rocketing towards him, before he threw up his hands to shield his face from the splinters of glass that now rained down around him.

Whatever had broken through the ceiling dropped directly behind him with a weighty thud. Katsuki had just begun to drop his hands, eyes moving to look over his shoulder, when a pair of hands darted around him from behind. Panic struck him as one latched itself onto his face, covering his eyes, and the other grappled for a hold over his torso. Even though he couldn't see his attacker, he still fought. Setting off explosions in both hands as he pushed and twisted away from them. They didn't even flinch at his attacks, and continued to grasp at his arms fearlessly. He knew this tactic. They'd already tried it once, and he wasn't going to let them succeed again.

"Get the fuck off of me!" He roared, giving one last push. For just a moment he'd shaken his arms and hands free. He made a jerk away from his attacker, but just as quickly as he was free, a new force pressed onto his shoulders and pinned him back into his ally's embrace. This new pair of hands was somehow firmer, less forgiving.

"Bakugo, this is your own fault." Iida's voice came from in front of him, stern and vindictive.

"If you'd just listened to us and rejoined us quietly, you wouldn't have to suffer like this."

"Fuck off you-"

"Shhhh…." A chillingly familiar voice whispered in his ear. Katsuki went rigid. "Surrender yourself, Bakugo. Stop fighting us."

His voice caught in a hiss of rage, the sharp stench of blood assaulting his nose.

"Kirishima. -You disgusting piece of shit!"

"Oh, Bakugo. Stop worrying so much." The redhead continued softly. "Just let go of everything and be reborn~"

He was about to snarl back a passionate "No fucking way!" when something changed and the words stilled on his lips. It was reduced to a feeble groan as his body betrayed him, growing heavy and slumping uselessly against Kirishima's arms. Once again he couldn't move, his thoughts slowed and all he could do was listen to the voices as they beckoned him back into their ranks. They were so familiar, his place amongst them cozy and warm. With a sigh he properly relaxed into Kirishima's hold. Their bliss rushed through him in a wave, washing away any remnants of resistance. He was home. He was safe.

It was absolute bliss. He wanted to drift in this weightless wonderland forever and yet, he was needed. Gently, ever so gently, they drew him back to reality, and slowly the world came back into focus.

Katsuki filled his lungs with air, nestling himself comfortably in his friend's arms before he let it out again.

He felt renewed, alive, as if he'd been revived from the dead.

"_ Feeling better now? _" Kirishima asked without words. The thoughts had simply been broadcast into Katsuki's head.

"_ Mhm _." He thought back as a smile curled across his lips.

"_ Good to hear _." Iida said, finally dropping his hands from Katsuki's shoulders. " _You were really starting to get on my nerves with all of that resistance bullshit. _"

"_Really?I would've never guessed._" He returned dazedly, the snark returning to his voice with a good natured grin "_There's no way that I'm apologizing, by the way. Your reaction was fucking priceless._"  
Iida gave a snort. "_Sure. Whatever you say, but you owe me a good sparring match after this…_ _Surprising, it was actually kind of fun going all out against you._"

"_Really? Well, I'm glad to hear that I was at least entertaining._" Katsuki shot back. His brow furrowed as an idea occurred to him. "_By the way, doesn't Deku need help?_"  
"_Oh, no._ _I'm fine!_" Izuku chirped with a grin, suddenly joining in on the conversation from halfway across the room. He made a jab at Aizawa's head, before dashing out of the reach of his scarf. "_Honestly,_ _I think our teacher's going pretty easy on me. He's been a little distracted since you showed up, Kirishima. Oh! You should have seen his face, Kachaan, -when you stopped struggling. That was gold._"

Katsuki felt the image flit through his mind and a laugh ripped itself from his lips. Really? That was beyond fucking priceless! All of that horror, pain, and defeat in one look! And on Aizawa of all people. It was just absolutely hilarious.

"_ Sorry to interrupt all of your fun over there, but I could really use some help. _" Recover Girl grumbled in with a frown. " _Toshinori needs to be held in a semi-upright position, and unfortunately my old lady arms are starting to give out. _"  
" _Ah. I can take over that duty for you. _" Iida said, turning away from Katsuki and Kirishima and rushing to her side.

The latter still had Katsuki's eyes covered, so he couldn't see for himself how All Might was looking, but he didn't need to. He simply slipped into Recovery Girl's mind and he quickly pulled together her diagnosis on his injured hero. It was the usual. Organ failure. Even though her quirk had restored most of the damage, the trauma to his system was still present. He'd need to rest for at least another week before even walking again. That was good. He wasn't going to die in the end. But, thankfully, he wasn't well enough to up and walk away from them either.

This might have actually turned into a fortunate turn of events. The formidable All Might, with his wondrous knowledge and charm, had become an easy target in the end.

Ah. They'd have All Might soon!

That thought sent a shiver of joy through him. He couldn't wait.

Kirishima just smiled in similar anticipation, leaning his head on Katsuki's shoulder from behind.

Despite his usual aversion to being touched, Katsuki found it was an entirely comforting gesture.

"_ How much longer do I have left _?" He asked.

"_ Another minute, I think. _"

He nodded. That felt about right.

There was still some small part of him that the link hadn't reached yet. It was still fighting tooth and nail for control, still hanging stubbornly to his previously asserted convictions. It wasn't uncommon for bits of personalities to try and fight back, but most collapsed within moments; and yet this one was continuing with its ludicrous claims. Perhaps it was because they'd been interrupted before, but this little part of him was being infuriatingly insistent that everything he was feeling was fake. That all of this joy and comfort was twisted and wrong. That he needed to get free.

"_ You shouldn't listen to those, you know. _" Kirishima advised with concern in his eyes.

"_ I know. I just need to know what he sounds like so that I can kill him _." Katsuki grumbled back. " _The little shit just doesn't want to calm his shit. _"

"_ Doesn't seem that way _." Kirishima agreed with a sympathetic frown. " _Don't worry though, I'm sure that he just needs time. _"

"_ Well he better get over his tantrum quick. I want to get a hit in on Aizawa before Izuku's done with him. The prick was being a little nag earlier, and he's said a lot of shit. _"

"_ I can draw this out if you want me to save him for you? _" Izuku offered eagerly.

"_ Fuck no. I appreciate the sentiment and all, but don't do that for me." _

"_ Yeah." _Kirishima added with a nodd. _"You need a break anyways Deku. You've been fighting for a good five minutes now. Just knock him out and take a breather. _"

"_ I can assist if you need me to. _" Iida volunteered, passing All Might back to Recovery Girl, who took him begrudgingly.

"_ That would be great Iida! Let me just lure him this way- _"  
" _Got it. _"

Katsuki watched through both their eyes as Izuku drew Aizawa's attention towards the entrance, so that the hero stood with his back to Iida. The exhausted man didn't even notice when Iida darted up behind him and landed a well calculated kick to his side. Aizawa went flying for a few feet before he hit a wall and collapsed to the floor.

When the dust settled, Izuku was the one to walk up and inspect their teacher's unconscious form. Recovery Girl popped in for just a moment to assess that he didn't appear to be hurt too seriously; no concussion, he was just unconscious and, while his shoulder would be badly bruised and sore, his only real damage was a fractured rib or two.

It was all pleasantly calculated to reduce risks. Yet that irrational little voice screamed out in horror: They could've easily killed Aizawa. _None _of this was remotely pleasant.

Before he could properly beat down his inner morron, a wave of information flooded his mind.

Exfil plans. Courtesy of their very own Principal Nedzu; and notably quite a few others who had been fine tuning the ideas.

Already, as an early phase of their collective disappearing act, a dozen or so of his brothers and sisters were already escaping through the forest at the edge of campus.

Their urgency would have seemed excessive in any other situation, but they'd been spurred by the coming of an insurmountable threat. The main body of heroes had tackled their previous engagement and were now on their way here.

Wait. Previous engagement? Where had they- Ah, right.

The information curled through him in a satisfying stream.

Unbeknownst to him, today's excitement had been two pronged. Only minutes prior to announcing their movement in UA, his family had released a variety of villains and prisoners across the county. The timing had been precise enough that the heroes were deployed only a few minutes before receiving news of the announcement at UA.

The reaction had been as expected, stuttered and panicked, efficiently delaying their arrival. But, the villains were just a flash in the pan, a showy little trick to get some attention and stir up some trouble. Now that the heroes had toppled their little distraction, the main force of them was on their way to campus.

When they inevitably got here, the heroes would cleave easily through the few villains left on campus and begin detaining his family members. That was an entirely unsavory prospect. So they'd decided to run: scatter, disguise themselves, and lay low for the next few months. Already, they'd set up a few safe houses and refuges for whoever among their ranks needed them. It wasn't a perfect plan, but they could easily fill any holes that arose.

In a more local respect, Izuku and Iida had already pieced through this information and were leaning over Aizawa's unconscious form, speculating.

"Do you think that we should take him with us?" Iida asked out loud, cocking his head.

"Yes! Definitely!"

"But we're already going to be carrying All Might. Won't our escape be more difficult."  
"We'll be fine." Izuku reassured, ever the optimist. "We've got more than enough hands."

"Oh, um… About that." Kirishima said carefully. The two of them turned to face him from across the room. "We've got a bit of a complication."  
"A complication?" Izuku asked, eyes going wide in concern. "With Kachaan?"

His stomach knotted to hear someone say it out loud. He was becoming a 'complication', just another burden for them to look after.

His little inner voice cheered: Yes! Perfect! Maybe they'd leave him all on their own!  
Leave him? No. They couldn't.

Yes! They were twisted monsters. Someone needed to stop them.

No. No. No. He needed them to succeed. They were his family. He loved them-

They were murderous psychopaths. He had to get away.

They were in the right. No one else could correct humanity.

Correct humanity? Listen to yourself, you're fucking insane!

When had this fucking lunatic gotten so fucking _loud _!

Which one was that thought talking about?

Which one even was he?

He let out a groan and felt the world pitch as he slumped forwards.

"Bakugo!" Kirishima exclaimed, his voice rising in panic.

Katsuki's eyes fluttered weakly against Kirishima's hand. Or was that his own hand?

He realized with a start that he'd gone pale —When had that happened?— and his skin felt damp under Kirishima's touch. How did he know that he'd lost color? He couldn't see could he?

Or maybe the world had just gone dark. Maybe he was blind.

He felt a prickling at the edge of his mind, something was seeping in and reaching through him. Almost against his will, he seized against it. His arms thrashed for freedom and he let out a gasp of pain, which morphed into a blind howl of anger as more hands held him still.

"Don't try to enter his mind!" Green hair, wide, panicked, eyes. "You'll get sucked in too."

"Then what do I do?" A voice asked in pain. The nauseating copper smell of blood on his skin. "He's spiraling. I don't want to lose him! Not again! Not like this!"  
"I- I…" Fucking annoying ass stutter. Just talk already you fucking nerd. "God, this is all my fault. If I had just held onto him a little better…"

"Midoriya. We need to think objectively!" Another voice, sturdy, strong, dependable. "We obviously can't force him through this. Maybe we should try to move him."

"No." The bloody one, shaking his head. "I can barely contain him as it is. If I let go, we'll completely lose him."

"But we have to get out of here. The heroes are already on campus. We can't afford to be here when they bust through."

The heroes? Were they here to save him? -No, no, they were here to hurt him. Kill him. Kill his friends.

Escape, they had to escape.

"Let me get a look at him."

"But didn't you just say-"  
"I know what I just said! I just— Oh shit"

Gasps and calls showered indiscernible around him as he was shoved onto the ground.

He raised himself shakily onto his hands, and stared at the bare tile below him as he gasped for air. It felt strange having full movement again. He still felt heavy and unsteady, but he was _free _. -At least he was supposed to be. His brow furrowed in confusion.

They weren't holding him anymore… So why did his insides twist? Why did his head spin? Why did he want to throw up?

Chaos echoed in his ears, someone was calling his name and trailing it with apologies. But he couldn't focus, his vision swam and his ears rang. It didn't help that the speaker was being partially drowned out by a wretched grating noise and swipes of movement. A wall of grey flashed in his peripheral and he dragged his gaze up to find Cementoss advancing from the mouth of the hallway, across the wrecked cafeteria. He was sending waves of rolling cement ahead of him in a charge towards the group of hivemates. Ectoplasm must have arrived with him, because he charged past his coworker, with his clones hot on his heels. Izuku and Kirishima stood only a few feet away from the approaching assault, stock still and eyes glued to Katsuki, lips still moving in words that were too distorted for him to decipher. He stared back with wide eyes full of horror.

Even as the world swam before him, one thought repeated in his mind.

What the hell did they think they were doing?

"Go! Run!" He tried to scream, but his voice didn't reach, it rebelled and caught in his throat.

He tried to beam the thought to them with all of his frantic might, as if he were somehow still a part of them. And while some sliver of him wished desperately that it would connect, another was entirely sure that there was absolutely no hope of that occurring.

Miraculously they seemed to get the message and snapped around, barely outrunning the heroes' assault in a mad dash towards their hole in the glass paneled wall. Iida was already there with an unconscious All Might in his arms and Recovery Girl clinging desperately to his back.

At the sight of them, Iida's eyes lit up and he turned to escape, flashing Katsuki one last distressed glance as he darted off down the lawn; quickly becoming nothing more than a memory as he veered left and disappeared from view.

Kirishima and Izuku were close to their exit now, but one of Ectoplasm's clones had made considerable ground and the two of them were nearly within its reach. In a last burst of desperation the clone reached out, hand almost grazing Kirishima's back, but catching only air as they cleared the hole.

Katsuki wasn't entirely sure why that was a particular milestone, until the clone set foot onto the grass in his pursuit. A gray mass rocketed down from above, utterly obliterating him with a brutal crunch, leaving only the residual black smoke that leaked around the boulder as any proof of his existence.

In shock, Katsuki followed the trajectory up through the glass ceiling, to see Ochako hovering in the air above them. Half a dozen human sized chunks of broken concrete and an angry looking Shoji levitated around her. The six armed kid brandished another boulder in his hands as Ochako hollered down at them through a megaphone.

"Follow us and you're dead!" She bit out, clearly pissed. "We've avoided killing anyone today as a courtesy to you all, but follow us and that's moot."

Katsuki looked up at her through his hazy eyes, forcing his gaping mouth closed.

This really shouldn't have been so surprising. She'd always been a strong willed person; that was just being directed rather _violently _in service of protecting her friends.

Friends who, as far as Katsuki could see from his spot on the floor, had escaped.

He felt himself relax with relief at that knowledge. They were safe. It was over.

Almost instantly, the world pitched violently and swam before his eyes. Then his arms gave out and he was deposited back on the cold ground with a groan.

He was vaguely aware of Ectoplasm rushing towards him in concern as the world faded to black.

Next he'd awaken he would be on a cot in a hospital, committed with the other hundreds of victims. But apparently that wasn't pertinent to this trip, because he was being drawn out of the memory.

His life flashed before his eyes again and he felt himself be redeposited in his own body, a whole three years older and hell of a lot more damaged.

Not to mention really fucking soar.

He blinked his eyes open with a groan, raising himself from the back of the armchair he'd long since sunk into.

The sun was setting outside the window, its last rays casting the office room in a warm, golden, haze. The space was empty however and Angela was nowhere in sight.

Why was the sun setting? How long had he been out?

He fished for his phone in his pocket and checked the time. 7:30.

He'd been unconscioud for almost 10 fucking _hours _? Holy shit.

He leaned against the massive armrest with a groan. His day had vanished in a bitter puff of smoke.

It was now that his eyes fell on the coffee table in front of him. A lone glass of water glinted invitingly in the indirect sun. Tucked under a corner of it was a note.

Katsuki dragged himself forwards, picking up the glass for a sip of water as he eyed the familiar scrawl in purple pen ink.

He read over the rim of the glass as water burned down his parched throat.

_I've stepped out to buy some dinner. _

_I'll bring back something for you. _

_Wait here until I get back. _

_-Angela. _

_P.S. I left at around 7:00. If I'm not back before 8:00, something has either gone terribly wrong, or you can expect very cold food. _

_P.P.S. Remember to take things easy. Do some stretches to get your blood flowing again. We don't want a repeat of when you almost split your head open because your leg was too far asleep. _

Wow. How promising, he thought with a roll of his eyes. He downed his glass of water and set both it and the note down on the table. As he pulled himself to his feet, he began the routine of stretches he and Angela had agreed on forever ago.

A few minutes later, he was startled by a knock at the door. He paused and stared at it for a moment, considering whether or not to answer.

Another knock sounded in the silence, this time accompanied by a voice.

"Angela?" A pause. "Bakugo?"

It was Aizawa. Katsuki dropped his hands from their stretch above his head and strode over to the door.

"Yeah. What are you doing here?" He asked as he opened the door.

Aizawa stared back, black eyes assessing him in their usual grumpy fashion, before he shouldered his way into the office. "Angela texted me this morning, saying that you'd had a flare up. She said that she had it under control, so I obviously didn't rush over."  
"Soooo…" Katsuki asked incredulously, eyebrows raised.

"Well, I thought I'd stop by to see if you were still here." He explained as he plopped into the armchair that Katsuki had just vacated. "I would have come sooner, but Shinso wasn't giving me much chance to escape the office. He's going to be a real handful. I can already tell."

Katsuki gave a snort as he closed the door behind his teacher.

"Well I'm glad to see that at least one of us has had a productive day. I'm doing fucking _great _, by the way. Thanks for asking."

"I can see that." Aizawa said, eyes sliding around the room. The sun had begun to dip behind the buildings now and dusk was engulfing their surroundings in a chilling halflight. "Any idea where Angela is?"  
Katsuki nodded his chin at the note on the table. "That says she went out to get dinner a half hour ago."

"Hmmm… Do you think she bought Chinese food from that cute little place at the end of the block?"  
"Probably." Katsuki said as he sat himself on the coffee table.

They sat in patient silence for a few minutes, and eventually Katsuki pulled out his phone. He was just scrolling through his work email when the doorknob gave a fierce rattle and the door swung open. Petite little Angela stood in the doorway, backlit by the light in the hallway and peering over the mound of takeout with a smile.

"Hey! You're awake!" She paused in the doorway. "Wait. Why are you two just sitting in the dark? Turn on the light for god's sake."

Aizawa just groaned from his slouch on the leather armchair. Katsuki just shrugged.

"What'd you bring?" He asked, with a tilt of his head.

"Chinese." She said, as she flicked the lightswitch with her shoulder and kicked the door closed behind her.

Aizawa propped himself up on his elbows to squint at her in the sudden light.

"Did the place on the corner finally bring back their secret menu?"  
"Yup."  
She grinned unabashedly at him as she put down her load.

Katsuki twisted his arm over his shoulder to reach for a box. He popped it open with a sigh. His stomach gave a rumble in anticipation.

"Mind if I…?" He asked tentatively as he looked up from the steaming fried rice.

"Go for it!"

"Thanks." He said as he fished a spoon out of the plastic bag.

"So, how are you feeling Bakugo?" Angela asked as she passed another box and a pair of chopsticks across the table behind him. Aizawa murmured a thanks of his own as he took it and fell back into his slouch.

Katsuki paused his shoveling to sigh. "Like shit, but I'm alive so I can't complain… By the way, was a hard reset really necessary?"

"Well yeah." Angela said, as she pushed the food aside and took a seat next to him. "Don't you remember how bad things were looking?"

"Well, I never really do."  
"Right. Well, you were mumbling things all over the place and spacing out. You kept smiling too, every now you'd chuckle a little. At one point you mentioned wanting to punch me; you said that you weren't going to do it, but still… I was honestly kinda surprised at how fast you were spiraling… There must have been some serious build up to that."  
Katsuki chewed more slowly and fixed his gaze straight ahead. "Not really. It kind of snuck up on me all at once."  
"Are you sure? You never just _lapse _like that." She said, eyeing him in concern.

"Yeah, I'm sure." His gaze was glued to the fried rice now.

If he didn't admit it to her, she couldn't demand that he go back to having regular visits-

"Maybe if you'd been coming in frequently we could have seen the signs before you crashed." Katsuki flinched at her accuracy. Her gaze was earnest and concerned as she leaned forwards, hands clasped in front of her. "I know that you wanted to give me some space, because I'm not protected like everyone on the force, but all of our hard work the past three years will mean nothing if you cave completely. We have to hold on together."

Katsuki chewed his lip in discontent and set his food aside stiffly. He knew she meant well, but really, he was already under enough pressure as it was, and he definitely didn't need her to tell him how every thought he had was drifting to them.

He had bad days and good days, he'd deal with it.

_Yeah? Just look at how well that's turned out for you so far. _The rebellious little voice in the back of his mind snarked. He scowled. They weren't wrong.

"Fine."

"Good." She said in relief.

"I'm going home then." Katsuki said, standing sharply. "Thank you for the save today Angela. I'll text you when I'm available to see you." His tone was polite but his neutral smile was pinched. As much as he'd been working on his acting, this was admittedly not one of his finest moments.

She just gave him a nod in understanding, a supportive smile on her lips. "I hope that I can see you again soon."

Bakugo nodded back and turned to leave.

He had opened the door and was just stepping out into the hall when Angela's voice called back for him.

"Bakugo, wait a moment!" He paused and partially turned to her, his eyes betraying his annoyance. "I really suggest that you steer clear of the ring for another few days. I don't think that you can handle it at the moment. Even though we did a reset to the origin point, your mind is still going to need a few days to properly work through everything."  
"I don't have that luxury, Angela." He growled out. "There's only half a month left until the deadline. I can't just risk everything waiting for my mind to ' _settle _'."  
"I know, but please. Just give yourself a few days to readjust."

"Ugh, fine." He groaned as he shoved his hands in his pockets and turned away.

"Bakugo, promise me!" She called after him.  
"I promise!" He shot back from the hallway.  
As he strolled out through the lobby of the apartment building, only a meer dozen feet away from the front door, he heard a rush of footsteps barrel down the stairs behind him.

He paused and waited as a severely winded Aizawa trotted up to him.

"What took you so long?"

"I wanted to finish up that mongolian chicken. You know that that's my favorite." The older hero said with a shadow of a smile.

"Angela probably would have let you take it with you." Katsuki grumbled as he turned back towards the exit.

"Maybe." Aizawa said, quirking an eyebrow and keeping stride.

They pushed open the doors and stepped out onto the dark, deserted street.

The chilled night air brushed Katsuki skin, oddly refreshing after so many hours inside. He sighed and turned, already set on his familiar route home.

The pair walked in silence, each left to stew in their thoughts; words stifled behind crippling exhaustion. Today had been beyond terrible —Wow, what an understatement!— and, fuck, it was only _Monday _.

Katsuki sighed.

Aizawa yawned.


End file.
